Balancing budget is Maturi's challenge

While a number of college athletic department are in financial trouble and forced to eliminate sports, Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi continues to find a way to keep his department intact and solvent.

"When I came here [in 2002], we were getting $8 million a year from [the administration] and next year, it will be less than $3 million," Maturi said. "So we have done our part in taking reduction of monies from the institution, but what you need to understand is almost all schools get some money. Wisconsin, for example, gets tuition waivers [scholarships for athletes that don't come out of the athletic department's budget]. We don't get any. ... They get over $3 million of tuition waivers at [Wisconsin]. That's $3 million we don't get.

"We don't get the parking revenues [for events], which is fine, it's understandable, nobody on campus does. The parking revenue goes to parking and transportation, which is OK. But we're really for the most part cost-efficient, but it's becoming more and more challenging in this very challenging economic time to continue to provide the necessary resources for our 25 sports."

Maturi had a chance to eliminate men's gymnastics in 2002 which -- because Big Ten bylaws require a sport to field at least six conference teams -- would have allowed the league to drop the sport. The move would have made sense at the time, in a state which doesn't have high school boys' gymnastics. But Maturi didn't, and he hired Mike Burns in 2004 to replace retiring coach Fred Rothlisberger to continue the successful program.

Maturi doesn't have plans to eliminate any sports. The three sports that were in danger of being cut a few years ago and saved by special fundraising efforts in 2002-03 -- men's gymnastics and men's and women's golf -- are safe at this time.

"I'm hoping certainly during my tenure that doesn't happen," Maturi said. "If the landscape of college sports doesn't change, I can see it happening."

However, Maturi didn't replace associate athletic director Tom Wistrcill when he left to become athletic director at Akron in 2009, and he didn't hire anybody to replace Phil Esten, who did a lot of planning for TCF Bank Stadium before Estes became head of Minnesota's Alumni Association in March.

When the alcohol ban first went into effect, the university cut the price of executive boxes at TCF Bank Stadium.

"Because we sold [the executive boxes] telling [purchasers] we were going to have alcohol, we decided to reduce it by 10 percent [last season and this], and that's what we did," Maturi said.

Maturi's future How long does Maturi want to remain Gophers athletic director?

"Well, I have two years left in my contract, and the decision is going to be made whether the university wants me or not, so we'll see what happens," he said. "I love what I do. I've been blessed and I've been fortunate, and there's still some things I'd like to accomplish here and I'd like to be part of the solution.

"If I stay healthy, I would really like to see the baseball [stadium] and basketball [practice facility] projects through. If we can get that done, and if we can get to a major bowl in football during this course of time, I'll be able to retire right here in the Twin Cities area and come to these many athletic events with a smile on my face."

"We're the fifth-most successful program in the country ... for this year, and a lot of people keep telling me we're having an awful year," Maturi said.

Jottings Talk about improvement: Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano is 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA for April, giving up 18 hits and three earned runs in 29 innings while striking out 27 and walking 10. A year ago in April, Liriano was 0-4 with a 6.04 ERA, appearing in five games and throwing 281/3 innings. He gave up 20 runs on 28 hits, striking out 20 and walking 11.

The Gophers wrestling team recently received a verbal commitment from West Fargo, N.D., standout Scott Schiller, joining classmate Tyler Lehmann in Minnesota's 2011 recruiting class. Schiller won three consecutive North Dakota state titles, winning at 171 pounds as a sophomore, 189 as a junior and 215 as a senior. He finished 43-0 as a senior and was ranked the No. 4 senior in the nation at 215 pounds by Wrestling USA Magazine. Lehmann, a transfer from Apple Valley, went 41-0 at West Fargo en route to the North Dakota 189 title this year.

GopherIllustrated reports lineman Cordian Hagans, who was highly recruited by football coach Tim Brewster a year ago and instead went to LSU, attended the Gophers' spring game and will transfer to the university. ... Former Gophers offensive lineman Matt Stommes signed a free agent contract with the Jets.

Former Gophers wrestler and current WWE superstar Shelton Benjamin is taking part in the Gophers graduate program run by associate athletic director Regina Sullivan. Benjamin is taking classes this semester and hoping to get his degree this spring.

The Oakland Athletics recalled Steve Tolleson on Tuesday. Tolleson, an infielder, was hitting .333 at Class AAA Sacramento. Tolleson, the Twins' fifth-round pick in the 2005 draft, is the son of former major leaguer Wayne Tolleson and was claimed from the Twins on waivers by Oakland on Feb. 1.

The Colorado Rockies recalled former Twins pitcher Juan Rincon on Tuesday. Rincon was 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA and five saves for Class AAA Colorado Springs. He split the 2009 season between Detroit and Colorado, going 4-2 with a 6.87 ERA in 33 games. ... Ex-Gophers third baseman Jack Hannahan is on a rehabilitation assignment and hitting .227 for the Seattle's Class AAA Tacoma farm team ... The Angels recalled ex-Gopher Robb Quinlan from their Salt Lake City farm team.