The men’s basketball rivalry game against Illinois State was Bradley’s first home sporting event since Michael Cross announced his resignation earlier this week.
Fans and students alike voiced their opinion on the upcoming changes in Bradley’s administration, and despite perceived bad feelings toward the department, fans seemed to be willing to acknowledge both positives and negatives from Cross’ time with the Braves.
For instance, senior mechanical engineering major Adam Grams said he believes it was time for Cross to leave.
“From what I hear he’s a good person, but you’ve got to look at it objectively,” Grams said. “What he’s done hasn’t been good enough and I think it’s time for him to leave.”
Those sentiments were echoed by junior health science major Nick Maggiore, who disagrees with the gloom-and-doom prognostications that can be found on various places, such as fan boards.
“I think he did an all right job, I think it’s just time for a change,” Maggiore said. “Things were going in the right direction, they’re looking up from here.”
That would seem to be a sentiment Cross himself would agree with, touting the university’s successes off the court and in the classroom along with the two Missouri Valley Conference championships won by Bradley teams last year.
However, two titles and limited success, if any, out of the school’s premiere sport (men’s basketball) will not cover up a large spending deficit. Various reports have noted the Athletic Department budget woes, with the department having lost between $18-19 million over the last three years, depending on what figures you use.
The financial issues were the reason Keith Reynolds, a Bradley fan who attended the Illinois State game, said he believed Cross enjoyed “limited success” on the Hilltop.
“Basketball is the revenue sport, I think they failed there,” Reynolds said. “I think he did make some impact with the other sports, but the bottom line is the athletic department lost money the last three years.”
With both Cross and President Joanne Glasser set to leave Bradley in the coming months, it is clear an change in the administration is coming, and with it comes the potential for a change in priorities.
Larry Loudermilk, a Bradley graduate and fan who attended the Braves’ loss to ISU, gave his thoughts on Cross’s replacement should place at the top of their to-do list.
“Finding good coaches,” Loudermilk said. “We need a change of coach, obviously, in certain sports. And help with recruiting to make Bradley more attractive to student-athletes in the high school levels.”
Reynolds, on the other hand, took a more financial approach to his criticism.
“[The new athletic director will need to] strike a balance between the students and the community and have a grasp of where the revenues come from,” Reynolds said.
