NC State Director of Athletics Debbie Yow Q&A, part II
In part I of our interview with NC State Director of Athletics Debbie Yow, we went over the overall successes on the field for Wolfpack athletics in 2017-18.
Now in part II of our Yow interview, we discuss some of the non-revenue sport highlights and the state of the budget, including the need to get the ACC Network on the ground.
You have a lot of good coaches in your program now. How do you try to prevent losing any of your coaches to other schools?
“Developing stability among any coaching staff begins with the contract. If you look at both our revenue sports and our Olympic sports in our contracts, there is a significant buyout in each one of those because we feel like we are making the investment in those individuals.
“It does work both ways, for the individuals and the universities. I think the coaches’ willingness to sign those contracts says a lot about their intentions to stay at NC State and to make their respective sports come to a special level.”
When you watched Wes Moore reach the Sweet 16 in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year in women’s basketball, what were your thoughts?
“He lost 70 percent of his scoring four of his five starters and ended up in the Sweet 16. That’s pretty special.
“We’ll have a number of our perimeter players returning, like Kiera Leslie, and I think we are going to have another terrific year under Coach Moore.
“I’m just really proud of what he has been able to achieve since he has been here, and he makes clear to me that the renovations of Reynolds have something to do with that.”
Has he noticed recruiting picking up as a result of that?
“Absolutely. In the first year he was here he said to me, ‘I know you love Reynolds and so do I, but when you’re 17 years old and you walk in the building is just old and tired. Will we ever be able to renovate it?’
“The fact is that we would have never been able to renovate Reynolds without the help of campus. That renovation was $35 million. Athletics/Wolfpack Club was responsible for $20 million, and the campus paid $15 million. It’s the only project in the history of the athletics program that the campus has participated in from a financial perspective.”
The two sports that have become bona fide national powers are wrestling and men’s swimming. What are the keys to maintaining that success?
“We have to keep the coaches, No. 1. In swimming, we need to figure out some answers for diving, because we are still not earning points there. The closest diving board that is the right height is in Greensboro. Our divers go to Greensboro twice a week to dive. That’s not a very attractive option.
“For wrestling, we need a new wrestling room. Pat [Popolizio] and I have known that for years. The team wrestles in shifts to best ensure that they have the space they need and we don’t have any unintended injuries.
“We need to double the size of the wrestling room, and that would mean a new one because there is nowhere to double that space in Weisiger-Brown. We need the finances to be able to do that as well.”
Would the diving be part of an outdoor pool?
“Yes, it would be outdoor.”
You had five new coaches this year, including Kevin Keatts. The other four also made postseason play, three of them after their teams had not reached the postseason the year before. Men’s golf advanced past the regional for the first time since 2012. How would you access their efforts?
“They are killing it. I think we are proving that we are pretty good at selecting coaches. It starts there. If you make the wrong hire it’s never going to be what it could be. It’s gratifying to see them achieve early on.
“There’s an old Southern saying that goes something like this: if a dog is going bite you, he’ll bite you as a pup.
“That’s what I see in these coaches. They come in, and even in the beginning you can see the dramatic improvement. That bodes well for the future.”
How would you describe the state of the budget?
“We still have an operating budget that is in the bottom 25% of all Power Five schools. That’s not where we want our budget to be, but we continue to overachieve with the money we have available. All of us are mindful of how we spend our money to make sure we get the best bang for our buck.
“When the ACC Network begins in 2019-20, our sincere hope is that it is going to drive more revenue that will be available for our operations, but it hasn’t happened yet. We are in the process of beginning our broadcast studio construction at the Murphy Center, and we’re also going to renovate the sports medicine unit there beginning in January. That will be about $2.5 million. It’s the only area of Murphy Center that has not been renovated.
“The broadcast studio is about $6.6 million.”
The recent ACC payout to NC State and other conference schools were about $5 million shy of the rest of the Power Five leagues.
“It’s at the bottom of the Power Five. It’s not where you want to be for a per school distribution. The Big 12 does not have any more money in its entirety, but it has only 10 schools to distribute it to, and they are getting more per school for that reason.
“Again we are counting on the ACC Network. We have to have it if we are going to continue to be able to compete effectively against the Big Ten and the SEC.”
The SEC payout was almost $15 million more. What is the effect of that difference?
“Just look at what they are doing. Kentucky just finished construction of a $49 million baseball stadium. We are not there yet.”
Is there an expectation of how much money might be coming from the ACC Network?
“Not yet. It’s too early. They are working on the distribution right now with various outlets.”
When you receive updates on the network does it sound promising?
“They don’t want to talk about it in those terms until we get much closer. I wouldn’t expect them to be talking about it that way until next January, sometime in the winter.”
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