Fort Collins – Carrying on the tradition of his three immediate predecessors, first-year CSU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk met face-to-face with about 50 fans at a pregame forum Saturday.
While Kowalczyk said he wants to see an upgrade in the nonleague men’s basketball schedule, he defended recently announced nonleague football schedules that include Division I-AA foes and Idaho in future years.
“We need to start scheduling more wins,” Kowalczyk said. Of starting this season against Colorado and Cal, he said: “If we’re 2-0, we’ll be in the top 25. If we’re 0-2, people will say, ‘There goes the season.”‘
He would like to see the rivalry with Wyoming moved to the season finale, regardless of weather.
Kowalczyk said a CSU appearance at an early-season basketball tournament in Alaska will help with the RPI. From his history in the Missouri Valley Conference at Southern Illinois, he said the goal was playing a slate with an average RPI of 150.
Kowalczyk gave some insight into recent problems plaguing the women’s basketball team. CSU coach Jen Warden announced Saturday that two players who had been suspended, Kelly Jo Mullaney and Raysha Ritter, had left the squad. The AD said the players had been invited to rejoin the team but “it was their decision.”
Kowalczyk said he supported Warden, 1-7 in the MWC. “We have a good recruiter in Jen. She’s going to have to build this program.”
As for lingering discord over banning “Fum’s Song” from the football videoboard, Kowalczyk said he didn’t see it appropriate to have a 1940s drinking song as the school anthem. “It has its place in the locker room if and when the team wants to sing it.”
Other questions were league related, specifically the television contract and the basketball officiating, which has drawn even more criticism than usual this season. Kowalczyk said he remains optimistic satellite carriage will come for The Mtn.
While he couldn’t comment on officiating, he used the example of the Missouri Valley, which used a premium pay scale to attract officials from the Big Ten.
