There are things they teach you as a finance and accounting double major at Georgetown University, and then there things they do not teach you as a finance and accounting major at Georgetown University.

Messin’ with Bobcats basketball is one of the latter, and as a result, a Hoya learned his lesson Tuesday.

My longtime high school friend Gerald (we’ll save his last name for embarassment purposes) was so quick to agree to the friendly wager on that Mar. 14th Selection Sunday.

A Georgetown win…lunch on me at Panera.  A seemingly unimaginably Ohio upset…a trip to the fine dining establishment Ruth’s Chris Steak House, with the Hoya undergrad picking up the tab.  Pretty simple, we both thought.

Tuesday, I reaped the benefits of that shocking 14-seeded win by an Ohio team that barely anyone—including yours truly—gave a fighting chance.

So I dined well Tuesday night and tried my hardest not to reiterate the fine points of the 97-83 shalacking by the Green and White.

I did not want to remind Gerald of the 13 three-pointers the ‘Cats dropped, or  the seven turnovers the defense forced against now NBA center Greg Monroe.  I didn’t want to rub in the fact guard D.J. Cooper was merely a 5-9 freshman playing on two weary legs, or that Ohio had to win at Ball State just to even get to the Mid-American Conference tournament in Cleveland.

Nope, I just ate away, a hidden smirk on my face the entire meal.

Besides, while Gerald’s bet may have set him back a few bucks, I think we can all agree it will be ME asking HIM for a job in a few years.

Sports tends to work that way—it brings us together one way or another.  The Bobcats’ success sure did, and look no further than the celebration on Court Street Mar. 18^th, a night and a scene I will never forget.

Bon Appétit.

-  After a thrilling end to the 2009-2010 season, Groce said he was able to get away from basketball with his wife and also had the opportunity to take his kids to the beach.

-  All four incoming freshmen have been campus for nearly three weeks and have hit the mid-point of the summer session of classes at Ohio.  Coaches are not allowed to work out with the players or watch open gyms, but Groce is excited about the fresh talent.  “Really, all four of them, their bodies are a little bit more developed at this juncture than our 2009 class.  So our strength coach (Mike Basgier) is excited about that because he has a lot to work with.”

-  Tipton, Indiana native Ethan Jacobs measured in at 6-11, 218 pounds, Groce said.

-  As for Armon Bassett, Groce has obviously stayed in contact with last year’s leading scorer.  Bassett is on the roster for the New Orleans Hornets’ summer league team.  “He’s got a good opportunity with the Hornets camp, and hopefully he makes the best of it,” Groce said.  “I think he’ll certainly have options.  What they are, I don’t know.”

-  Bassett obviously could land somwhere overseas, but Groce did not rule out Bassett playing in the NBA’s Developmental League next season.

-  I asked Groce whether bringing Basssett to Ohio was worth it, given the way he ended his tenure in Athens.  Bassett has a hearing schedule before Judge William Grim in Athens on Monday stemming from an assault charge in May outside an Athens bar.  “It’s a little bit unfortunate in that, obviously the trouble at the end, I think people will say ‘hey he was the same guy before he came in that he is now.’  And that’s not true.  I’ve seen a lot of growth in him in the time he was at Ohio in a lot of different areas.”

-  Another departed Bobcat, Kenneth van Kempen, has signed on to play for Upstairs/Weert in The Netherlands.  His father coached that club for sevearl years and will be an assistant coach this upcomign season..  “It gives him a chance to go back home, but I think the biggest thing is it affords him the opportunity to continue his schooling.”

-  Groce said KVK has thought about going to medical school or even going the pharmacy school route.  “He’s a very bring young man, and he’s one of those guys that’s going to do whatever he puts his mind to.  We’re looking forward to seeing how his career moves forward.”

-  As for walk-on Adetunji Adedipe’s future, Groce does not know if he will return next season.  “He has not (decided) at this point.  He and I are in discussions regarding that, and I expect a decision here somewhat shortly.”

-  Marquis Horne, who quit the team in November, was enrolled at Ohio University spring quarter to finish the year.  Groce does not know where the Princeton H.S. (Cincinnati) native will go next year.

-  Freshman guard Jay Kinney, who was kicked off the team after multiple run-ins with the law last school year, left at winter quarter.  Groce said Kinney is in talks with a few junior colleges, and that his future plans are still undecided.

-  Steve Coleman did indeed get a redshirt after playing in just 10 of 37 games thanks to a hand injury.  He will be a redshirt-sophomore next season and is in good shape right now, according to the ‘Cats coach.  “Steve’s healthy and doing well.  He seems to be getting more and more confidence in that right hand.  I’d say he’s a full go right now.”

-  Does Ohio’s non-conference schedule, which features just two true road games, get the Green and White ready for MAC play in January?  “Without question, yeah.  That’s what we put it together for,” Groce said.  “I think it’s a schedule that fits this team really well.  I like the spacing of the schedule, and I think its without question going to get us ready for league play.”

-  Ohio will return it’s Bracketbuster matchup versus Wright State during the 2011-2012 season in Dayton.  This season, Ohio will play a road game in its Bracketbuster.  The skip is by design so that each team has one home game and one road game annually in its Bracketbuster set up, whether that’s the actual Bracketbuster game or a return game from a previous year.

-  By the way, it’s worth noting Ohio men’s hoops released the non-conference portion of its schedule for this coming season on July 6.  Last year, the 09-10 non-conference schedule was released on August 18.

-  As for recruiting, as it stands right now, Ohio has two seniors (DeVaughn Washington, Tommy Freeman) and one junior (Alex Kellog), meaning the ‘Cats have three scholarships to give over the next two years.  Groce said he could sign two kids for 2011, or just one and save two for 2012.   “We’re in a situation where we’ve got three to give in 2011 and 2012.  We’ve got different scenarios that we are looking at.  Then we’ve got some bigger classes in 2013 and ’14.  So I’ve got a chance to see some young guys and starting to develop some thoughts there.”

-  Groce knows the types of players he’ll be targeting this summer on the recruiting trail.  “One things for sure, at some point here—whether it’s ’11 or ’12—we’ve have to think about getting a point guard.  The second one of those three will probably be either a power forward or skilled, athletic forward.  And then the third of those three would be best available.”

-  Groce will be visiting the following cities over the next few days and weeks to recruit: Columbus, Louisville, Milwaukee, Morgantown, and Augusta, Georgia.

Simply put, what do these NCAA Tournament upsets or bowl appearances mean to an athletic department that, according to a January article in The Post, runs a nearly $20 million budget?

Enter Associate Athletics Director for External Operations, Dan Hauser, who is trying to crunch the numbers to answer exactly those questions.  Problem is, it’s hard to put a finite number on just what good football and men’s basketball seasons can do for a department as a whole.

“You can’t just go in and find out the total,” said Hauser.  “We’re in the process of trying to put our arms around that.”

Some financial gains are easy to forecast.  In men’s basketball, the Mid-American Conference will get $2.4 million paid out annually for the next six years from the NCAA thanks to Ohio’s berth and upset win in this year’s hoops tournament.  That’ll mean about $400,000 to the MAC every year split evenly amongst its 12 basketball institutions.  In short, Ohio and all other 11 teams in the MAC will get about $33,333 annually for the next six years purely from the Bobcats’ success.

That number is easy to calculate, but the rest?  Not so much.

The most eye-popping data right now centers on the spike in visitors to the department’s website, OhioBobcats.com.  According to information gathered from host CBS Sports, the site saw a 109% increase in month-over-month unique visitors and a 77% increase in unique page views last March when John Groce was leading Ohio to a first round upset of Georgetown.  Subpages for the men’s basketball home page, roster, schedule, and NCAA Tournament Central accounted for four of the top six most-visited sites on OhioBobcats.com.

“Those types of numbers enable you to make more money,” said Hauser.  “So the ramifications of the NCAA tournament sometimes aren’t realized right away.  Some of those can be a giant increase in the web hits which helps you make your rate card on there potentially have a chance to go up.”

Hauser said the website, which sells advertising based on a revenue sharing deal with both CBS Sports and ISP Sports, has been and continues to be profitable.  But that’s just one area impacted by a great year between the lines.

Ohio Director of Athletics Jim Schaus travels the country talking to members of the university’s 200,000-plus living alumni, which surely have been much more enjoyable plane rides to visit possible donors after a fantastic 09-10 campaign.  The alums with deep pockets love wins, and Schaus said that’s starting to show.

“I think our fundraising numbers are up,” said Schaus.  “The fact that our annual giving is going to be up this year in an economy that is very difficult, I would say that is a very positive factor.”

GAINS FROM GREEN AND WHITE GEAR?

It’s not a question of whether Ohio will benefit financially in the merchandise department, it’s just how much.  That number appears to be a mystery right now.

Even when Ohio is barely mentioned on T-shirts like these, the NCAA tournament appearance pays dividends.  Furthermore, royalty fees pay out at 10 percent for Ohio gear sold at outlets like College Bookstore or Universitees, for example.  But these merchandise sales based on the 09-10 success don’t necessarily have an end point, making the benefit hard to calculate.

“There could be sales beyond the end of (a certain fiscal) quarter because (College Bookstore) is going to continue to sell that shirt all summer long, into the fall, next basketball season.—they’re going to sell it until it sells out,” Hauser said.

So if a fan comes to the Convo and buys a MAC Champions T-shirt before an early December game next winter, the revenue from that shirt means just as much as the shirt bought a day after the ‘Cats’ win over Akron in Cleveland.  The timeline in revenue-making is continuous.

One licensing area where Ohio will not benefit is in its contract with Russell.  Not even halfway through its 10-year agreement with the apparel company, the Bobcats won’t be getting a hefty raise anytime soon.

”The impact of winning can result in a greater deal in that, but the timing’s got to match up,” Hauser said.

The key financial gain with an apparel contract can come if a department has long term success or has a fantastic year like Ohio had one or two years away from the end of the current contract.

Hauser points out most apparel deals are long—five year minimums at most schools—so companies like Russell can implement apparel into the marketplace.  The same can be said with radio and television contracts.  The larger the investment for Nike, ISP, Russell, and others, the longer the deal.

PACKING PEDEN

Ohio may not be able to calculate revenue produced by merchandise, but ticket sales are often related to wins.  With high expectations for Ohio football in 2010 paired with six home games before November when the students are still on campus and, well, Schaus is hoping for good ticket sales.

“We’ll see this year if we see a bump in that,” said Schaus.  But even he admits there are a lot of factors other than last season’s success that play a role in whether a fan decides to either buy season tickets or upgrade current seats.  Things like the opponents on the schedule and the economy as a whole play a large role, too.

While it’s way too early to begin to calculate ticket sales for men’s basketball in 2010-11, Hauser is expecting most current season ticket owners to return to Peden Stadium this fall for football.

“Our target is a 92, 93 percent renewal rate.  That’s what we are shooting for,” Hauser said.

Right now the football program has nearly 5,000 season ticket holders, and Hauser notes the renewal percentages for those fans hits about 80 to 85 percent annually.  But the 90-plus percent renewal rate for 2010 is realistic, he says.

“We’re not going to accomplish (huge sales increases) in one year or a magic trick, but success breeds that.  Maybe 5,000 turns into 7,000 and 7,000 turns into 9,000.  Every time you start pulling that up, the challenge of single game revenues diminishes,” Hauser said.

“The chances of rain (at one home game) ruining a great huge chunk of your revenue becomes a non-factor.”

While he says sales are doing well, Hauser could not get into specifics with season ticket numbers for this fall yet because he says a lot of fans buy tickets 30 or 60 days in advance.  But one formula is simple.  The more season tickets they sell, the better off they will be.

“You don’t have to advertise your games. Your expenses are lower.”

THE BALL STATE EFFECT

More jerseys flying off the racks, more bodies flipping through turnstiles—it’s all great for that next season, but it won’t mean nearly as much if Ohio football and/or men’s basketball fall flat next season.

It’s the ‘Ball State Effect.’  The Cardinals followed a 12-2 football season in 2008 with an abysmal 2-10 campaign last fall.

“I’ll bet you their season ticket sales were up at the beginning of last season, but you have to sustain it,” Schaus said. “For some people to want to jump on board (and buy tickets), they want to make sure it’s safe.  They want to make sure it’s stable.”

Schaus will be the first in the department to point out winning increases exposure–between hoops and football Ohio had eight national TV appearances this year—which results in an improved Ohio University and Bobcat Nation brand.

But consistency is key.

“It’s all headed in the right direction.  Now, how dramatic is that?  I think we will see some noticeable benefit, but it’s going to take some time,” Schaus said.  “Our ability to string together multiple good seasons in our higher profile revenue producing sports, I think in the long run that will position us to have a more visible impact financially.”

But what about the people who cover the team in a different way?  What about the people who make sure you read a quote from Tommy Freeman in tomorrow’s edition of The Post or ensure ESPN’s play-by-play talent know the correct pronunciation of Adetunji Adedipe?

The life of a sports information director is a tad bit different than Joe Sunshine’s 40-hour work week.  But it’s a job Ohio Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations Jason Corriher enjoys.

“Our hours are a little bit different,” understated the 31-year-old China Grove, North Carolina native.  “I love traveling, I really do.  Growing up, I never really got to travel that much.  This job has given me a chance to see places and meet people and see venues I would not have gotten had I not had this job.”

Corriher spent more than 8,000 miles alone hitting the pavement with the football team, fueled by a pair of long-distance non-conference games and a few additional post-season trips.  While the Athletic Department looked to hire a third full-time SID this winter, Corriher added eight extra team trips on his schedule as the men’s basketball contact.  Tack on nine cities with the Bobcat Caravan this spring and there you have it.  From Ohio football’s rain-soaked trip to Denton, Texas in mid-September to Bobcat baseball’s upcoming short trek to Chillicothe for the Mid-American Conference tournament, Corriher will travel 15,289 round trip miles covering the ‘Cats during the 09-10 school year.

That’s a lot of hotel room keys.

Take this March, for example.  Odds are while you were busy wearing your green and white T-shirt before or after Ohio’s upset of Georgetown, Corriher was inside something with wheels.  Corriher’s wife, Kim, convinced him to make the trip to Providence for the game, even with Ohio baseball set to host a weekend series with Purdue the next day.  After that first round shocker, you better believe Corriher was up all night.  Not game-planning like John Groce and his staff, but traveling.

“I got a cab shortly after the USA Today‘s were delivered to the hotel (the next morning),” he said.  Following the upset, an early flight put Corriher back in Athens to cover the Ohio-Purdue baseball series later that Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.  Then, Saturday was spent scoring two Ohio losses at Bob Wren Stadium while keeping one eye on the Ohio-Tennessee hoops contest on his computer.  A long four days, but well worth it.

“To wake up and see Kenneth van Kempen on the front of the USA Today, that’s why we do this job,” Corriher said.  ” To be able to work and see the benefits of all your hard work–that win over Georgetown helped us realize that.”

Corriher also spent a month in Detroit.  At least it probably seemed like it.  One trip to the Motor City for the MAC title game against Central Michigan.  A return drive up a week later with wide out Taylor Price for the Ohio-Marshall Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl Press Conference on Dec. 12.  Then, Christmas with the ‘Cats as Ohio fell to the Thundering Herd at Ford Field Dec. 26.  That’s four weekends of December–three of them spent in Detroit.

“That was pretty unique, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that,” said Corriher, who argues the city gets more grief than deserved.

With a lingering southern twang and passion for N.C. State, the Carolina Panthers, Hurricanes and poker, Corriher is used to the tolls of being on the road.

“My staff and I talk about this all the time.  This job is very challenging in the sense that, depending on what games you have and your travel schedule, you may be able to go to sleep at a normal hour some nights, but you may have other nights if it’s a home football or home basketball game, you may not get to sleep until after 1 a.m.

“I have mastered the art of sleeping on buses,” he joked.  “I do utilize that time on the bus to, in a lot of cases, make up some sleep time.  Take the jacket and ball it up and try to knock out a couple hours there.”

The media relations work won’t get any lighter any time soon for the youngest head SID in the MAC.  Budget cuts mean his department will have just three staffers beginning next fall, down from the six he had when he arrived in Athens July 2007.  Corriher is proud of the work he and his staff have done professionally.  Personally, his goal is to get into better shape during his July-timed New Year’s resolution (“our lives are almost by the school year, not the calendar year”).

He enjoys his interactions with the media, coaches, administrators and student-athletes.  For Corriher, the travel is a bonus.

“It is a new area of the country for me, and this job has afforded me a chance to get around and see these new places and meet all the great people.”