Pioneer Press: U Regents green-light Air Pitino — as long as boosters pay for it

BleedGopher

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per Murphy:

P.J. Fleck can fly big on donors’ backs to recruit his football players. So can Richard Pitino for men’s basketball.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Thursday amended Pitino’s contract to allow the Gophers coach to exceed 40 hours of private aircraft use to recruit players in one fiscal year if fundraised dollars earmarked for expenses cover the additional costs of chartering flights.

Pitino’s budget for private jet travel came under scrutiny in 2016 when an internal university audit found that he doubled the amount allotted for charters in his first season as basketball coach in 2013-14 and tripled it the following season, according to the Star Tribune.

The paper reported Pitino exceeded his $50,000 annual budget in fiscal years 2014 and 2015 with permission from then-athletic director Norwood Teague. Pitino’s private jet usage was highlighted in a report prepared by the university’s Office of Internal Audit.

In December, the university clarified that Fleck, the head football coach, can spend more than the contractually approved 60 hours a year traveling on private aircraft to recruit players, but if he does so, that cost must be covered by donors.

“It’s similar to what we did with coach Fleck a few months ago,” athletic director Mark Coyle told the regents. “If he needs additional time, per my approval, he can use fundraised dollars earmarked to serve that purpose.

“Coach Pitino will come close to those 40 hours and may exceed those 40 hours, and we just wanted to have the same opportunity, if we had fundraised dollars, if we need those extra hours to get that done.”

https://www.twincities.com/2018/05/...ts-air-pitino-as-long-as-boosters-pay-for-it/

Go Gophers!!
 












How many scholarships is Fleck recruiting for as opposed to Pitino? Should they have the same budget for private flights? I don't think so.

Oh come on. It's easier to recruit in football. There are like 5,000 kids who get scholarships every year. Basketball you only get a couple scholarships a year. If you recruit the wrong guys, you're dead. In Football walk-ons play for heavens sake. In basketball if they play you've lost your team.

BTW just to be clear obviously I agree with you.
 


Anyone know what Loyola's (Chicago) budget is for recruiting via a private jet?
 







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