University of Richmond Athletics
The Changing Face of UR Athletics
May 10, 2001 - reprinted courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch
by John O'Connor/Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer
In a college-athletics galaxy far, far away - three decades ago - Jim Miller played basketball at Old Dominion.
"It seemed like there were 20 or so big-time schools that were supposed to win all the time, and then there were the rest," he said.
Now, Miller is in the 14th month of his eventful tenure as the University of Richmond's athletic director. As he sees it, fresh possibilities abound in the college-sports setting in which he operates. "Schools like Richmond can aspire to be more than they ever have been," he said.
During Miller time at UR, the Spiders are aiming high and hoping to get there quickly. For better or worse, Miller will forever be recalled as the AD who steered Richmond from the Colonial Athletic Association to the Atlantic 10 Conference during his third month on the job. That move is referred to as the "Bold Stroke" in UR's Athletic Strategic Plan.
The Spiders are rolling the dice. Gone, for the most part, is the comfort level - the short road trips and the league rivalries - Richmond enjoyed through 16 years of CAA affiliation. Opening in 2001-02 will be a new chapter of UR athletics, membership in a Northeast-based A-10 that UR hopes will bring greater national exposure to the school through achievement in men's basketball and more frequent NCAA playoff participation in all of its 19 sports.
"It was not a one-man cowboy show. It wasn't 'Jump on your horses and follow MILLERme!'" Miller said. The groundwork for UR's shift in league membership began quietly under Chuck Boone, Miller's predecessor, at the urging of Dr. William E. Cooper, Richmond's president since May 1998.
"I came here at a time when a decision had to be made," Miller said. "There were positives and negatives. It was not a no-brainer. But we're very comfortable with our decision, and we're moving ahead.
"The feedback I've received has been overwhelmingly positive."
Miller cringes at the suggestion that he'll be defined by the switch in athletic membership. That, he emphasizes, is but one piece of the puzzle on which he's working. Last October, his office issued the Athletic Strategic Plan, a comprehensive report card and guide for the long-term future of Richmond's sports program.
Boil down 33 pages and this is the nut: Richmond is serious about improving each of its 19 sports, intent on upgrading facilities and committed to providing its student-athletes with a more enjoyable experience.
Miller believes that Richmond, in a few years, can consistently place among the top 100 colleges nationally in the Sears Directors' Cup standings, which rate Division I institutions based on overall athletic success. UR has not ranked higher than No. 117 during any of the past five years.
"The Sears Cup is a way we can measure our success and a way to give every student-athlete a chance to contribute to the success of the [athletic] program," Miller said. His most exhilarating moment at UR so far, says Miller, was watching the selection show for the NCAA women's soccer tournament with the Spiders team, which qualified for the first time in school history and celebrated accordingly.
"That was as good as it gets," Miller said. "That's the experience we want for all 19 of our teams."
Robins Center renovation commenced in January, with several cosmetic changes in the main arena. Additional upgrades are coming. A new basketball complex in the Robins Center for the men's and women's programs is on the way, and a new football locker room is in the works, too.
Miller and his staff interviewed former and current student-athletes and their coaches. Miller concluded that the student-athletes too often felt as though "nobody cared about us." Travel was often uncomfortable. They bought much of their equipment. UR administrators, Miller sensed during the interviews, paid too little attention to some sports.
"There's a focus on all of our athletes that there never was before," he said. "We want them leaving here thinking it's been the best time of their lives."
Boone, starting in the summer of'98, guided Richmond through a Title IX-related athletics restructuring of major proportions. UR is now in many ways a model for Title IX compliance, extending as many women's scholarships as men's. Boone brought to Richmond the school's two high-profile, successful coaches, Jim Reid (football) and John Beilein (men's basketball).
And since Boone's departure, UR has changed the way in which it handles athletics financing. The athletic department is now responsible for generating much of its funding, though a substantial portion still comes from the school's general fund, confirmed Herbert C. Peterson, Richmond's vice president for business and finance. The change was made, Peterson said, to allow the athletic department to benefit directly and immediately from successful fund-raising.
"The money we raise, we can keep and we can spend," said Miller, who works with an annual budget of about $10 million. "That's a big difference. In many ways, [Boone's] hands were tied."
The table is set, it would appear, for a new day in Richmond athletics. Miller is at the controls. It's not business as usual. Hold on. Things are moving fast.