Mike DiMauro: What is UConn's plan if the Big 12 never calls?

Jun. 27—It was probably two decades ago now when another state newspaper, acting as if it had just unearthed the Pentagon Papers, published an expose on the expenses UConn men's basketball incurred one year in New York City during the Big East Tournament.

Thirty-dollar pitchers of orange juice from the Four Seasons and Jim Calhoun's similarly priced postgame chicken club sandwich made for some sexy headlines, despite reeking of naivete and bumpkinism. There's the cost of doing business in major college sports, odious as it may be, as they'll tell you in Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa and Columbus. You either cannonball off the high board or stay on the patio.

Case in point: You win a national championship, you get paid. Market rate. Translation: Dan Hurley deserves every dime of his new, six-year, $32.1 million dollar deal announced last week. Hurley delivered the ultimate prize. Now he gets the rewards.

I've been critical of him here in the past. Now I shut my yap and tip my cap.

But Hurley's raise comes at a time when the UConn athletic department operates in a financial morass. The last reported numbers read north of $50 million in the red, even before Hurley's raise. I'm told the last budget did not reflect an increase in salaries and positions among Jim Mora's football staff, the reinstatement of women's rowing (with many more amenities to avoid a Title IX issue) and the expense of the football bowl game.

Is it possible the deficit will grow even greater when the latest numbers are released at the end of the fiscal year?

There is a hovering issue for UConn and our legislators. It's perfectly fine to value growth over profitability, provided they don't forget the most important rule: eventually, the money has to come from somewhere.

So I ask: Where is all this money coming from?

One potential answer, perhaps more of a prayer at this point, is an invitation to the Big 12, whose per-member media rights distribution was $44 million for the 2022-23 academic year. UConn receives $3.8 million currently in the Big East. I get that many UConn fans like to blubber in the presence of that seductress called nostalgia, worshiping at the altar of the Big East. But if the Big 12 invitation comes — and we're about to explore that "if" — the numbers say UConn has no choice.

I fear UConn to the Big 12 is nothing more than a hopeful narrative. Published reports are conflicting, with Brett McMurphy of the Action Network saying the basketball coaches in the Big 12 are on board with bringing UConn into the conference, while Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman wrote recently, "I don't see any movement for a non-Power Five," a Big 12 athletic director told Tramel. "I do not think there's enough support to get them across the finish line."

Two sources said Tuesday that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yorkmark is far more enthusiastic about adding UConn and Gonzaga than the league's athletic directors, on whose advice the presidents — the ultimate decision makers — rely.

One of the sources said, "What if the (lingering) Pac 12 media deal isn't as lucrative as the schools want? Then the Big 12 is looking at places like Washington, Oregon and Colorado to expand first."

Let's leave it here for now: The call from the Big 12 may never come. It's hardly the basis right now to make sound business decisions. So again we revisit: Where is all the money coming from, not merely to pay Hurley (now reportedly the highest paid public employee in New England), but for everything else? Increased revenues from basketball and fundraising eventually have a significantly lower ceiling than the somewhere between $30-40 million dollar difference in media revenues among even less successful Power Five schools and UConn.

All of this comes after some hostile state legislative sessions about funding for higher education. They managed to agree on enough for 2024, but are already wondering about shortfalls for 2025 — as lawmakers pine for more efficient financial planning and execution at our state colleges and universities.

And yet the folks in charge of the money are somewhere between "laissez-faire" and "we don't care."

"I think Coach Hurley is doing more than training athletes — he is proving himself to be a mentor in instilling leadership values to these young men and providing skills that will last them a lifetime," Gov. Ned Lamont said in a published report. "In the process, Coach Hurley has taught us all something about leadership."

A more cynical fellow might suggest to the governor that he start taking notes from the coach.

Speaker of the House Matt Ritter said in the same published report, "Sometimes we're sort of negative in Connecticut. Why don't we celebrate being the best at something and be really proud of it? And I think that's what this contract means."

No denying that, Mr. Speaker.

Just maybe you and your colleagues can get the rest of us some answers, lest tuition hikes and student fees from the regular Janes and Joes who make up the UConn campus swell to the size of automobile air bags.

I don't know. Maybe it's me. The fans don't seem to care. They'd rather stay in the Big East. The politicians are waving pom poms. Meanwhile, we hum a lyric from Billy Joel: "It's just a matter of time; the fun falls through and the rent comes due, somewhere along the line."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro