Rutgers University, which might be asked to join the Big Ten Conference, must decide whether becoming part of one of the most prestigious U.S. athletic associations will put its sports program on the road to solvency or financial ruin.
The Scarlet Knights' athletic department, which received almost half its $58.5 million in revenue last year from state subsidies and student fees, probably would earn about an extra $13.6 million a year in conference money by leaving the Big East for the Big Ten, based on current distributions.
To compete with schools such as Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, however, the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based school probably will have to increase spending on coaches' salaries, recruiting and infrastructure, possibly sending it deeper into the red, sports business analysts and former coaches said.
BASKETBALL
Wooden to be honored at graduation A colorful tribute to late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden is planned for Friday's graduation ceremony. The university said that student-athletes and scholars representing the class will carry 99 blue-and-gold flags into the College of Letters and Science ceremony.
In other basketball news: Former NBA and University of Florida guard Orien Greene was suspended for two years for tampering with urine samples while playing for a pro team in Amsterdam. ... Guerdwich Montimer, a 22-year-old man accused of posing as a West Texas high school basketball star at Odessa Permian High, a West Texas school made famous by the book and TV show "Friday Night Lights," has been indicted on six felonies including sexual assault and tampering with government records. ... The Phoenix Suns said veteran forward Grant Hill has exercised the one-year player option on his contract and will return to the team next season. Teammate Amare Stoudemire said he will opt out of the final year of his contract if he doesn't re-sign with the Suns before then.
NFL
Rookie finds doughnuts 'irresistible' Seahawks rookie wide receiver Golden Tate apologized and said he was "very embarrassed" after police in suburban Seattle gave him a warning for trespassing into a gourmet doughnut shop at 3 a.m. last weekend.
The former Notre Dame star says it was a foolish mistake. Tate says a friend took a couple of maple bars from the shop, which is at the bottom of the building in which Tate lives, when the door was left open. He says "they are irresistible."
"No, I'm not disappointed at a guy being at a doughnut shop at 3 in the morning when they got maple bars like Top Pot has," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll deadpanned. "However, under the circumstances. ... That's definitely wrong. We've talked about it, addressed it. He's remorseful and all that. I do understand the lure of the maple bars."
