PC webinar with Kit Hughes tonight . . . .

Less forthcoming than Marcus about HC.  Much more discussion about more global issues like the transfer portal, NIL, possible NCAA rule changes.  I don't know how much of this was over the head of those tuning in.  All his slides, but one on the new field hockey field and track to be officially announced tomorrow, were about the NCAA.  I think he is on their transformation committee.

Mot the way I would have structured the conversation, assuming it was a collaborative effort between the Council and him.

He did declare that HC was not leaving the Patriot League.

Phreek's summary above accurate. Thought his statements were vague for the most part. I took some screen shots but unless things changed since my hiatus, I can't add them as an attachment here. Nice graphic of the "Hart Turf Field and Track" - "2022 Enhancement Project."

Yes, he dodged the leaving the PL question saying that the PL 'is perfectly suited" for Holy Cross and his "focus is on winning."

Very complimentary about the city of Worcester and, no question, he wants to improve the College's connection with the city. 

He did say that while Holy Cross has the smallest alumni base of any school he's worked, "but it feels like the biggest."

Aren't all of the issues being driven by the power conferences, and things that HC & the pL have essentially no say in whatsoever?

Sounds like a waste of time to even pull slides together for this.

NCAA issues (click on the have slide enlarge and right side up)

Broader NCAA issues slide and new/enhanced field:

I place as much or more blame on the two President's Council co-chairs who moderated the webinar. It is their role and responsibility to guide his presentation: i.e., tell Kit, these are what our PC members are likely to be interested in, and emphasize why alumni support for athletics is so critical.

There were elements that were consistent with the PC's recurring motif of having students speak about their HC experiences, and what the school has meant to them. As for the recurring pronouncements about how great a city Worcester is, perhaps that reflected the interests of one of the co-chairs.

See:
www.holycross.edu/alumni-0/presidents-council/meet-co-chairs

The low-light of the evening came at 8 o'clock, as the webinar concluded, when one of the co-chairs said, 'we have great questions on scholarships and financial aid, but we have no time for them. Bye.'

That, in a sentence, summarizes how off-track the webinar veered.

The 'Area of Focus' slide et al appear to be from the NCAA D-1 Transition Committee. I may have missed it but I did not hear him say he was on the committee. What I heard was that the PL had a meeting in Newport last week to address a questionnaire from the NCAA committee.

Being top ranked in graduation rate means we're doing the academic counseling right, but he is working to increase other on campus counseling resources available to SAs. I took this to mean more counseling about the transfer portal as well.

In response to a question about other league affiliations he doubled down on HC commitment to the PL. Also said the city of Worcester provides a completive advantage in the PL including NILs

In addition when the moderators asked questions, most were...well you've touched on this already in your remarks, but could expand a bit on... No thanks, ask my scholarship question!

Also surprised to hear Kit has had his eye on the HC job for...15 years!

Hughes failed to mention that Coach Magarity was the first Kavanaugh COY award winner

Fifty student-athletes, not sure if that includes grad transfers, leaving the PL in men’s hoop, is startling.  After all, don’t most of these kids say they chose a PL school for the outstanding academics.  The PL is supposed to be Ivy Lite but my guess is the fifty men transferring dwarfs the number of IL men’s hoops undergrad transfers.  Maybe the PL needs to make it less appealing to transfer on the men’s hoop front.   The model doesn’t appear to be working.  Let me be clear, I am all-in on the student part of the student-athlete equation but perhaps lowering the AI would be a start.  That would increase the pool of recruits which just might improve the level of play which might increase interest in the product.  Would it be enough to prevent 50 men from transferring, I don’t know. 

When asked if he was considering any other league for HC...a quick no, then something about winning more in the PL, and that the three leagues schools don't want to leave, the SEC, IL, and PL

If bring accessible is one of Kit’s goals, I wonder if he’d agree to a “20 Questions” session such as we had many years ago on this forum…..

Wait, is this a joke?

That sounds like a spam inbox that someone else will monitor vs his actual HC email address (e.g. khughes@holycross.edu)