In reply to: It's not just about the money posted by fontoknow
Penn State is also carrying 36 on roster.
Average team size is 32.
It is very likely that those 9.9 scholarships get sliced into 3 or 4 different student athlete packages.
What you are asking for is definitely not 9.9 student athletes divided by 4 classes. You're likely seeking 15 new student athletes a year (wrestling plus Title IX sport).
That's fine, but who gets cut out of the freshmen class?
The NCAA says the average scholarships per team is 24, but I still don't see a problem using your numbers. I don't know the actual numbers on students and beds available, but we have built 4 new dorms in the last 4 years and are currently using an "extra" dorm to rotate students as their older dorms are remodeled. I believe there has got to be room for 15-20 additional students. It would seem that current enrollment probably fluctuates by that amount each year anyway.
You would know better on the numbers, but I just don't think anyone needs to be "cut"
How does Stanford do it? They have 36 varsity sports compared to Notre Dame's 26.
should be varsity athletes. That's their choice.
What problem does adding varsity wrestling solve? Does that net ND more than adding varsity wrestling costs? It might. I'm just pointing out the obstacles that have to be overcome, and a hard enrollment ceiling of 2050 per first year class that is based on dorm capacity is certainly something to consider.
Most non-revenue sports don't solve any problems (other than balancing Title IX requirements). Most don't net ND more than their costs. Wrestling does have a prior history at Notre Dame so there is that. It may benefit some 2 sport athletes although most concentrate on only one sport these days.
I was a wrestler in high school, come from a family of wrestlers, my brother wrestled for ND, so I have a personal interest in the sport and so naturally I think it's worthwhile. I think the enrollment numbers can be overcome and I don't think the Stanford model is crazy (maybe not 36 varsity sports) - they get a lot of notoriety for always being at or near the top in the collegiate rankings, Director's Cup, while not losing any of their academic credibility.
Cost shouldn't be an obstacle for Notre Dame, but I don't see them adding varsity sports unless they get an earmarked donation
You're requesting a change ... even a change back. When most of the non revenue women's sports were added, they were fixing a clear problem (as misguided as you might think Title IX is, compliance is an important issue facing most colleges and universities).
The enrollment issue can be overcome, but it is zero sum right now. Adding a new set of admits means subtracting it someplace else.
So 10-15 kids each year in the freshman class will be wrestlers. They'll also be good students, live in the dorms and major in all kinds of things. Who has been cut out of ND since we added hockey? Women's lacrosse? What kids aren't getting into ND because we have a soccer program?
Requiring juniors to live on campus without adequate housing capacity means we won't see growth in enrollment for the foreseeable future.