LMAO at Hart's $10m reserve fund that took him years to get to:
When John Currie took his position as K-State’s athletic director in 2009, he walked into an athletic department facing a $2 million projected budget deficit. Facilities across campus paled in comparison to other schools in the Big 12, and the school was dealing with the fallout from the firing of former head football coach Ron Prince.
Despite the obstacles facing the department in Currie’s first year, he turned that projected deficit into a $5 million surplus. Then in 2012, ESPN named K-State the most profitable athletic department in the country in Fiscal Year 2011 with a $20.1 million surplus. That beat out traditional Big 12 powers Texas and Oklahoma, which profited $16.6 million and $9.9 million respectively.
What’s been even more impressive about the financial successes of the K-State athletic department since Currie arrived is that he has been able to operate in a surplus while eliminating direct state and university funds. The only money that the university now gives to the athletic department is $500,000, which comes from student fees and is used to pay student employees.
“We’ve had a budget surplus four years in a row,” Currie said. “And
that’s an expectation. That’s not a goal. We’ll have it balanced and have a
surplus again in the 2014 fiscal year.”
Currie and his department faced $5.4 million in inherited debt back in 2009. That included the controversial settlement with Prince, who was paid $1.65 million after his firing. K-State had sued the former coach after it was revealed that former athletic director Bob Krause and Prince had made a secret deal to pay Prince $3.2 million over 10 years.
“We had an inherited commitment to Coach [Ron]
Prince and inherited commitment to a couple other people and then a debt for a
university airplane that we’ve covered,” Currie said.
Currie said that getting those debts covered is one of his core values when it comes to running the athletic department.
When John Currie took his position as K-State’s athletic director in 2009, he walked into an athletic department facing a $2 million projected budget deficit. Facilities across campus paled in comparison to other schools in the Big 12, and the school was dealing with the fallout from the firing of former head football coach Ron Prince.
Despite the obstacles facing the department in Currie’s first year, he turned that projected deficit into a $5 million surplus. Then in 2012, ESPN named K-State the most profitable athletic department in the country in Fiscal Year 2011 with a $20.1 million surplus. That beat out traditional Big 12 powers Texas and Oklahoma, which profited $16.6 million and $9.9 million respectively.
What’s been even more impressive about the financial successes of the K-State athletic department since Currie arrived is that he has been able to operate in a surplus while eliminating direct state and university funds. The only money that the university now gives to the athletic department is $500,000, which comes from student fees and is used to pay student employees.
“We’ve had a budget surplus four years in a row,” Currie said. “And
that’s an expectation. That’s not a goal. We’ll have it balanced and have a
surplus again in the 2014 fiscal year.”
Currie and his department faced $5.4 million in inherited debt back in 2009. That included the controversial settlement with Prince, who was paid $1.65 million after his firing. K-State had sued the former coach after it was revealed that former athletic director Bob Krause and Prince had made a secret deal to pay Prince $3.2 million over 10 years.
“We had an inherited commitment to Coach [Ron]
Prince and inherited commitment to a couple other people and then a debt for a
university airplane that we’ve covered,” Currie said.
Currie said that getting those debts covered is one of his core values when it comes to running the athletic department.
