STrib: Pitino far exceeded budget for private jet travel

[Ewert86PC]

Oh, so he got nothing out of that vastly overpriced trip. Even better.

Sent from my SM
You don't even know what you're talking about anymore, go back to the kids table

I know there is an allegation of Megatongue approving a junket that the Gopher MBB got zip, zilch, zero, nada, bupkis from.

I also know that anything Megatongue approved that looks odd will fall on the program's reputation now that he has been gone nine months.

Are you lonely at the kiddie table, bemidj?

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[Ewert86PC]

IT WAS ALL APPROVED!!! THERE WAS NO FINANCIAL ABUSE!!!

I'm fine if anyone wants to be critical of on court performance or off court discipline issues but this is a nonsense. Obviously you're on the glue again.

The Africa trip was a recruiting trip which we got um, what out of? Nothing.

The use of the plane should be recruiting related and we should get a recruit or two out of it.

The Athletic Dept has been throwing money at the MBB program and the U is getting nothing out of it. Nothing to counter all the bad press. Nothing to the pressure off the highly touted incoming recruiting class. Everything is pointing to a major flame out in the program and I don't want that.

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[Ewert86PC]

Didn't spend any time recruiting, yet he turned in far, far better results than his successor, and has found his way back (in 3 years) to a job that most would consider better than Minnesota. Interesting.

^ This is why overspending by Megatongue & RP will haunt the MBB program for decades. RP was supposed to be "connected" but that has not panned out thus far.

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[Ewert86PC]

The Strib found this to be vitally important, but didn't bother to report Norwood's sexual harassment of one of their own employees when she reported it to them.

This is a totally valid reason to skewer the Strib, btw.

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[dtrain19]

The Africa trip was a recruiting trip which we got um, what out of? Nothing. The use of the plane should be recruiting related and we should get a recruit or two out of it. The Athletic Dept has been throwing money at the MBB program and the U is getting nothing out of it. Nothing to counter all the bad press. Nothing to the pressure off the highly touted incoming recruiting class. Everything is pointing to a major flame out in the program and I don't want that. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

So you have insider knowledge that all of Pitino's travel didn't yield any recruits? Do tell

 

[atsgopher]

Glad to see most aren't buying into this:

I was an Auditor for 10 years. Whomever is broadcasting these results is relying on public ignorance of a specialized field. Blaming Pitino for this, or even suggesting this is negatively reflects on Pitino is unequivocally disingenuous.

This is not about Pitino at all (nor stollings).

This is not about the athletic department. Matter fact, this article pretty much only states the writer is ignorant or somebody is after Pitino.

The Dept, or should have had, experts design and aid in the implementation of internal controls. Likely done by the internal audit department or an outside consultant.

Reading between the lines, one can infer:
1. There was a control - the budget.
2. There was an approval process - for the budget.
3. There was monitoring of the results - evidenced by a need for approval.
4. There was a process for deviation from the budget and the process was followed - evidenced by need for approval for additional spending.
5. The auditor incorrectly called something a deviation in the operation of a control, when this was clearly a design flaw (if this is even considered a control deviation). Otherwise, the auditor does not have a complete understanding of internal controls. Me thinks this is probably the case.

6. The only conclusion that can be drawn about Pitino is that he performed his part as it was designed, and thus should actually reflect positively on him.
7. With the given information, it appears Teague did his portion correctly too.

For issues with control structure the ultimate responsibility is with the Board of Regents and Kaler. They likely hired someone to perform this task. If this is not an auditor ignorance problem, than it is a designer problem. These are far more common than one would think.

The Gas issue is also a design flaw. However, it is more akin to laziness in research. As another poster pointed out, the opportunity cost is probably higher to stop for gas, here's why: one stops, saves the difference between what the company charges and what is available near the airport. However, that difference must be compared to what it costs to operate the Private jet for the time it takes to stop.

So say it costs ten minutes to stop for gas. Say the rental company charges $5 while the retail rate is $3. Assume a 20 gallon tank. $100 vs $60. Nominally there is a $40 difference. Then add in the the hourly rate for the 10 minutes of plane usage. We know from the article that it is roughly $6,000 per hour. That is possibly only when flying and there is likely a cheaper idle rate).

Even still, it is unlikely that one can get it cheaper than what is offered by the rental company on the retail market. Especially, if one works for a large university that should have negotiated said rate with the rental company.

Stopping for gas is what people do that rent a car on vacation (if and only if, they have verified substantial savings or are cash poor). When your work involves traveling, you quickly do the math and realize it is far cheaper to pay for gas via rental company, even if their's is a higher rate.

 

[dtrain19]

Glad to see most aren't buying into this: I was an Auditor for 10 years. Whomever is broadcasting these results is relying on public ignorance of a specialized field. Blaming Pitino for this, or even suggesting this is negatively reflects on Pitino is unequivocally disingenuous. This is not about Pitino at all (nor stollings). This is not about the athletic department. Matter fact, this article pretty much only states the writer is ignorant or somebody is after Pitino. The Dept, or should have had, experts design and aid in the implementation of internal controls. Likely done by the internal audit department or an outside consultant. Reading between the lines, one can infer: 1. There was a control - the budget. 2. There was an approval process - for the budget. 3. There was monitoring of the results - evidenced by a need for approval. 4. There was a process for deviation from the budget and the process was followed - evidenced by need for approval for additional spending. 5. The auditor incorrectly called something a deviation in the operation of a control, when this was clearly a design flaw (if this is even considered a control deviation). Otherwise, the auditor does not have a complete understanding of internal controls. Me thinks this is probably the case. 6. The only conclusion that can be drawn about Pitino is that he performed his part as it was designed, and thus should actually reflect positively on him. 7. With the given information, it appears Teague did his portion correctly too. For issues with control structure the ultimate responsibility is with the Board of Regents and Kaler. They likely hired someone to perform this task. If this is not an auditor ignorance problem, than it is a designer problem. These are far more common than one would think. The Gas issue is also a design flaw. However, it is more akin to laziness in research. As another poster pointed out, the opportunity cost is probably higher to stop for gas, here's why: one stops, saves the difference between what the company charges and what is available near the airport. However, that difference must be compared to what it costs to operate the Private jet for the time it takes to stop. So say it costs ten minutes to stop for gas. Say the rental company charges $5 while the retail rate is $3. Assume a 20 gallon tank. $100 vs $60. Nominally there is a $40 difference. Then add in the the hourly rate for the 10 minutes of plane usage. We know from the article that it is roughly $6,000 per hour. That is possibly only when flying and there is likely a cheaper idle rate). Even still, it is unlikely that one can get it cheaper than what is offered by the rental company on the retail market. Especially, if one works for a large university that should have negotiated said rate with the rental company. Stopping for gas is what people do that rent a car on vacation (if and only if, they have verified substantial savings or are cash poor). When your work involves traveling, you quickly do the math and realize it is far cheaper to pay for gas via rental company, even if their's is a higher rate.

I understand 50% of this but agree to 100% of it.

 

[DMan]

If you want to get top 25 classes you need to spend more than 150,000
UL 250,000 +
UK 400,000 +
UNC 300,000 +
Duke undisclosed but i see them at every aau venue
most bid time programs have their own planes
like Kansas Texas
or access to boosters who give coaches unlimited access to planes
the not filling the gas up is such a stupid point and tells me the Strib has no clue about big time recruiting
exactly what atsgopher said yeah lets keep that private jet on the runway burning aviation fuel
and keeping the six figure pilot on retainer while you top off the tank

 

[BleedGopher]

per Q&A with Marcus:

Q: Why were you surprised about the negative response when the audit released information that you spent more than $320,000 on private jet travel in three years, far more than your contract allowed?

A: When Norwood was here, we were always talking about ways to improve the program, whether or not it was through facilities or through recruiting. Certainly something I always brought up to him was the ability to fly private. One thing I told him when it came to recruiting was were there other ways to find money to help for recruiting travel? Because you want to be in a lot of places in a little amount of time. Norwood was always willing to work with us on ways to do it, and do it the right way.

We would never ever do anything where we’re not working with the athletic department. Everything we ever spent was approved. It was something we felt was necessary. Whether it was through Norwood or (interim AD) Beth (Goetz), it was always approved. You’re not allowed to spend money at a university unless it gets approved. And that’s the way it should be. You’re always trying to improve. But you never can spend money without it being approved.

Q: Is it a case where the university president, board of regents, AD and coach have to be on the same page with how the money is spent in basketball?

A: I think everybody wants the same thing. We all want to win. We all want to compete at the highest possible level. We all want to do it the right way. We want to make sure every dollar that we spend is necessary. We’re all for that. With a new AD coming in, I know that’s something that’s important. We’ve always wanted to do (travel more in recruiting), as well as try to get creative in ways to enhance our program and keep up with other programs around the country.

http://www.twincities.com/2016/05/1...penses-everything-we-ever-spent-was-approved/

Go Gophers!!

 

[dtrain19]

Really surprised Pitino chose to do an interview for the Pioneer Press and not the Strib.

 

[EG#9]

Thanks to Atsgopher, Dtrain, Wandering Gopher, and others in this thread who have had the time and patience to deal with people that that think these travel expenses are an issue.

 

[dtrain19]

Thanks to Atsgopher, Dtrain, Wandering Gopher, and others in this thread who have had the time and patience to deal with people that that think these travel expenses are an issue.

It's been a long day of venting my frustration. I hope AD Coyle and Richard Pitino can work together and turn this program around. Agree or disagree we all want to see success for Gopher hoops. Bed time...good night.

 

[Moonlight]

As usual, the U hasn't bothered to figure out a way to get on message and unify behind a program. Problems happen and it's every man (or program) for himself. Coyle better start tonight working on a way to make it seem like the U is actually invested in this program.

 

[bemidjigopher]

I know there is an allegation of Megatongue approving a junket that the Gopher MBB got zip, zilch, zero, nada, bupkis from.

I also know that anything Megatongue approved that looks odd will fall on the program's reputation now that he has been gone nine months.

Are you lonely at the kiddie table, bemidj?

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Clearly you're. I find it hilarious that you know Teague is the problem, but you go after Pitino, typical of you though

 

[Ewert86PC]

Clearly you're. I find it hilarious that you know Teague is the problem, but you go after Pitino, typical of you though

Just because it was approved by Megatongue, doesn't mean RP had to do it. Would he have done it if it wasn't approved? Each party was responsible to say yes or no.

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[scher215]

How many times has your boss offered you a raise, a stipend, reimbursement, etc. and you said no? I'd guess it happens very rarely. But we should expect Pitino to do it.

It wasn't money given to him under the table, off the books, illegally, it was for job related expenses, etc. it was accounted for and on the books and it was approved.

 

[dtrain19]

How many times has your boss offered you a raise, a stipend, reimbursement, etc. and you said no? I'd guess it happens very rarely. But we should expect Pitino to do it. It wasn't money given to him under the table, off the books, illegally, it was for job related expenses, etc. it was accounted for and on the books and it was approved.

We're fighting a battle that can't be won Scher. Can't fix stupidity from a terrible glue sniffing addiction.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Just because it was approved by Megatongue, doesn't mean RP had to do it. Would he have done it if it wasn't approved? Each party was responsible to say yes or no.

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Are you ****in high, seriously pass the bong, you expect the coach to say no to approved funds that even "over budget" are well under the elite programs. My god you're a lost cause

 

[Otis]

This whole argument is ridiculous!

If your 7 figure salary was dependent upon the performance of 15 18-22 year olds and their performance on the court and in the classroom (to a lesser extent), I'm pretty sure you would use every dime of your budget to get the very best players you can. I would.

If the Strib really wanted to get a good story they would have looked into how the frack Mega-Tongue came up with the extra cash in the Athletic Department to pay for the overages. The University is a government run establishment and all their dollars are budgeted for. So where did Mega get the $175k? He either had to request additional funding, had additional funding (unlikely), or he took it from another program he had control over (like Hockey recruiting or cutting a title 9 program). This is the part of this whole thing that smells. Pitino asking for cash and getting it is fine, but where it came from is most likely a juicier story.

 

[bemidjigopher]

This whole argument is ridiculous!

If your 7 figure salary was dependent upon the performance of 15 18
You think the Strib cares about that they let their own beat writer get sexually abused and did nothing

 

[bleedgold]

Based off of what the posters are saying about this on the thread this is how I assume the conversation went for approval...

RP: Hey woody, stop sexting and pick up your phone I got a stud recruit I need to go see but I am over the budget.
NT: Hey Richie sorry about that, I was out of Vodka but I am good now. Tell me about these recruits you need to go see. If we are going to spend triple our budget I want to make sure the recruits are worth it.

RP: Ya no problem. I got a in on this PF out of Seattle named Josh Martin. He really wants to play in the Big10 and he is going to be a great fit for our program. I think if I fly out there we can get him. If you think you can find some extra money, I also want to take the jet and go so this fast athletic PG Kevin Dorsey. He is a 4star recruit. I have been following him on twitter since he was a Junior and he gets a little aggressive but I can surely clean that up when he gets here. He is a program changer for sure. Lastly I got two big men overseas that I think can really help this program. Right now neither of them can score the basketball and can hardly catch it but give me a year or two to work with them and they will be starters for this program. So what do you think? Can I use the jet? It will be expensive but if I can get all these guys this will pay pay off in the end,

NT: Well Richie, you are either on something or on to something but I am so deep in another glass of goose on the rocks that I cant say no. The Jet is all yours.
RP: Thanks boss final four here we come.

 

[bemidjigopher]

Based off of what the posters are saying about this on the thread this is how I assume the conversation went for approval...

RP: Hey woody, stop sexting and pick up your phone I got a stud recruit I need to go see but I am over the budget.
NT: Hey Richie sorry about that, I was out of Vodka but I am good now. Tell me about these recruits you need to go see. If we are going to spend triple our budget I want to make sure the recruits are worth it.

RP: Ya no problem. I got a in on this PF out of Seattle named Josh Martin. He really wants to play in the Big10 and he is going to be a great fit for our program. I think if I fly out there we can get him. If you think you can find some extra money, I also want to take the jet and go so this fast athletic PG Kevin Dorsey. He is a 4star recruit. I have been following him on twitter since he was a Junior and he gets a little aggressive but I can surely clean that up when he gets here. He is a program changer for sure. Lastly I got two big men overseas that I think can really help this program. Right now neither of them can score the basketball and can hardly catch it but give me a year or two to work with them and they will be starters for this program. So what do you think? Can I use the jet? It will be expensive but if I can get all these guys this will pay pay off in the end,

NT: Well Richie, you are either on something or on to something but I am so deep in another glass of goose on the rocks that I cant say no. The Jet is all yours.
RP: Thanks boss final four here we come.

Schizophrenia is a serious illness, you should probably get help with that

 

[GophersInIowa]

Just because it was approved by Megatongue, doesn't mean RP had to do it. Would he have done it if it wasn't approved? Each party was responsible to say yes or no.

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I'm not sure why this is so complicated. Employee asks their manager if they can do something, it's up to the manager to decide if it should be done or not. That is what a manager/director is paid to do. It's not Pitino's job to decide if the extra funds are available or not.

 

[dtrain19]

I'm not sure why this is so complicated. Employee asks their manager if they can do something, it's up to the manager to decide if it should be done or not. That is what a manager/director is paid to do. It's not Pitino's job to decide if the extra funds are available or not.

Glue sniffing addiction...

 

[Ewert86PC]

I'm not sure why this is so complicated. Employee asks their manager if they can do something, it's up to the manager to decide if it should be done or not. That is what a manager/director is paid to do. It's not Pitino's job to decide if the extra funds are available or not.

Employee goes to manager says "my flight budget of $100,000 is too small."
Manager says "okay here's $100,000 more."
It is up to the employee to prudently use the appropriate amount of that $100,000 & is not beholden to use all of it.
if the employee goes back to manager and says "I need more" and Manager says " okay here is another $100,000" then why have a budget if you overspend what is alloted by 200%? That says both the manager and employee are scamming the system, by trying to make their own bottomless pockets budget.

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[GophersInIowa]

Employee goes to manager says "my flight budget of $100,000 is too small."
Manager says "okay here's $100,000 more."
It is up to the employee to prudently use the appropriate amount of that $100,000 & is not beholden to use all of it.
if the employee goes back to manager and says "I need more" and Manager says " okay here is another $100,000" then why have a budget if you overspend what is alloted by 200%? That says both the manager and employee are scamming the system, by trying to make their own bottomless pockets budget.

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That just says you have a manager that isn't doing their job. The original article says that Pitino was told there were other funds that could be used. Was Pitino supposed to say "instead of going out recruiting today, lets meet to go over the athletic department budget so I know exactly where these extra funds are coming from"?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but my experience is budgets can be flexible to some extent. I've presented information/ideas to my boss where I needed some extra money above what my budget called for. We discussed it. Sometimes he approved it. Sometimes he denied the request. I didn't ask where the money came from specifically because it isn't my job to figure that out. It is his job.

 

[e.bigelow]

That just says you have a manager that isn't doing their job. The original article says that Pitino was told there were other funds that could be used. Was Pitino supposed to say "instead of going out recruiting today, lets meet to go over the athletic department budget so I know exactly where these extra funds are coming from"?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but my experience is budgets can be flexible to some extent. I've presented information/ideas to my boss where I needed some extra money above what my budget called for. We discussed it. Sometimes he approved it. Sometimes he denied the request. I didn't ask where the money came from specifically because it isn't my job to figure that out. It is his job.

You're definitely not in the minority. Anyone who has ever had to work within a budget should know this. I work for a large corporate bank and this is exactly what happens to me. This is all so spot on it's not even funny.

 

[bizzle22]

That just says you have a manager that isn't doing their job. The original article says that Pitino was told there were other funds that could be used. Was Pitino supposed to say "instead of going out recruiting today, lets meet to go over the athletic department budget so I know exactly where these extra funds are coming from"?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but my experience is budgets can be flexible to some extent. I've presented information/ideas to my boss where I needed some extra money above what my budget called for. We discussed it. Sometimes he approved it. Sometimes he denied the request. I didn't ask where the money came from specifically because it isn't my job to figure that out. It is his job.

No I don't think you are in the minority. If your boss approves something it's not your job to figure out where the money comes from or why it is was approved. I'm not even a Pitino fan, but I think everything he did there was fine as long as anything over the budget was approved, which appears to be the case.

 

[Winasota Gopher]

On my way home listened to The Right Time with Bomoni Jones, nationally syndicated ESPN radio program, spent 10 minutes on this subject and the article written by Myron.

Not once did he note that the overspend was approved. Not once.

 

[scher215]

On my way home listened to The Right Time with Bomoni Jones, nationally syndicated ESPN radio program, spent 10 minutes on this subject and the article written by Myron. Not once did he note that the overspend was approved. Not once.

I usually really like Bomani but that is disappointing.

I'm sure he's using the Myron article which I don't think mentions it either?