Report: Weeks after reaching March Madness, UHart contemplating an exit from Division I athletics

Hartford Courant

Apr 08, 2021 9:50 PM

Less than a month after gaining national attention in the NCAA Tournament, the University of Hartford is contemplating a drop in athletics from Division I to Division III, according to a television report.

"Look at the University of Hartford," school president Gregory Woodward told WTNH-TV on Thursday. "How many of our players go pro, one or two a year, that's not our goal. We will do the right thing for this university and all of our 7,000 students."

No decision has been made yet. Attempts to reach Woodward or attain a statement from the university were unsuccessful.

Walter Harrison, who was the president of the University of Hartford for 19 years before retiring in 2017 and who chaired the NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance, said he understood that university presidents have difficult financial decisions to make.

"Like most universities, the University of Hartford has had a tough financial time with COVID," Harrison said Thursday night. "I can imagine they're looking for ways to balance their budget.

"Having said that, I think it's a terrible decision, or a terrible recommendation. The conclusion of the report is wrongheaded and could severely damage the university.

"In my view, they should consider seeing where they could economize in their Division I sports program. That seems like an obvious first step. It seems they are taking a chainsaw to the program instead of a scalpel."

Pat Meiser, the athletic director at the University of Hartford from 1993-2014, went to the Hartford-Baylor NCAA Tournament game in Indianapolis. She said she had heard rumors of a potential move to Division III at least a week ago.

"There's so much history, and good things that have occurred at Hartford, for a small private school, it makes even considering something like this very disturbing," she said Thursday night.

"I can appreciate a fiscal review. This is a very difficult time for lots of organizations, businesses and higher ed and so forth but when you have had the success Hartford has had and all that comes with it, a non-football, small private school, you don't turn around and run away."

WTNH-TV obtained a copy of the study, done by CarrSports Consulting, which found UHart was losing $13 million per year on its athletic programs and recommended it look into the viability of dropping to Division III, where it could join area schools such as St. Joseph's in West Hartford, Trinity in Hartford, Wesleyan in Middletown, Albertus Magnus in New Haven, Eastern Connecticut in Willimantic and Western Connecticut in Danbury. Former UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway is listed as a CarrSports managing partner.

In winning the America East Conference's automatic bid and playing in the tournament, where the Hawks lost March 19 to eventual national champion Baylor in the first round, the men's basketball program brought national attention to UHart. Coach John Gallagher made numerous media appearances and called the experience "transformative" for the program and the school.

But even as UHart was having its historic season, the study was being prepared.

"Everyone thinks, you make tournament you hit the jackpot," Woodward told Channel 8. "We didn't get a cent from the tournament. Congratulations to our great kids, but we are losing money doing this. I don't think … the world understands is that everyone who plays Division I sports loses money, except for about 22 schools."

In 2019, the NCAA reported, the 351 Division I athletics programs averaged a loss of $14.4 million. Hartford would not be the first Division I program in the state to make difficult decisions. Both UConn and Central Connecticut State, while retaining Division I status, have each cut sports to save money. Fairfield, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and Yale are the other Division I schools in the state.

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UHart moved to Division I in 1984, at the beginning of the trend in which many Division II schools moved up to play as a "mid-major" in basketball, competing for a conference's automatic NCAA Tournament bid and become part of March Madness, or play what is now FCS level football.

Eric Crawford, the first Division I basketball captain at UHart and later an assistant coach, was unhappy after hearing the report.

"When they made the move to Division I, they wanted to expand the brand," Crawford said. "How many more people know about the University of Hartford now [since the NCAA Tournament game], and then you get this news? It's going to hurt their alumni relations."

Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com. Lori Riley contributed to this story. Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.