A financial crunch has forced Bradley University to slash its budget, with President Stephen Standifird announcing plans for an academic restructuring aimed at erasing a $13 million budget shortfall.
But will the planned 10% reduction of expenses include the Bradley athletic department in any way?
“I would just say that’s a question for the Board of Trustees and Steve; they're undergoing the review,” vice president of intercollegiate athletics Chris Reynolds said in an extended interview with WCBU. “They've been moving forward with the process of evaluating the academic side of the house since July.
“I’m here to do my job, and that's what I was hired to do. Until I'm told anything, or otherwise, I just keep my head down and keep supporting our student athletes. I’m really excited about what they’re doing on the field and the court, in the classroom, and what they’re doing in the community. So, I stick to that.”
Reynolds said the athletic department’s finances are reviewed regularly since he was chosen to lead the department in 2015.
“It's something I've welcomed, and it's something that I really appreciate. I want to be evaluated, scrutinized. I want people to ask questions, because it really keeps us honest as a department,” Reynolds said.
“In times like this, it really helps because we have been reviewed for eight years and it's something that I have come to expect, appreciate, value, how our coaches, how our senior staff people prioritize being great stewards of our university finances. So from my perspective, it's always been a high priority for us in the athletics department to be terrific partners of the university, as we are with the community.”
Reynolds said he must remain mindful of the university’s financial situation in considering departmental improvements or facility upgrades.
“We want to make sure that we partner with the leadership as relates to conversations of any type of enhancements,” he said. “Certainly, there are challenges here at Bradley University, so I'm very sensitive to those things and don't want to be blind to what's going on around me.”
Amid Bradley’s fiscal predicament, Reynolds said his optimistic nature allows him to focus on helping Braves athletes excel.
“I don't look at challenges; I look at opportunities – there's opportunities everywhere. There's always ways to get better, to improve,” he said. “If we do have a ‘quote-unquote’ perceived challenge on the outside – whether it be competitively, academically, or some things that we may or may not be doing in the community – we have the control and the power to remedy or fix any situation.”
Reynolds said he continues to see his department making positive strides.
“In a lot of ways, we're just getting started, whether it be the way our teams are performing from a competitive perspective,” he said. “Our student-athletes, they're actually crushing it in the classroom (and) doing a tremendous job there. Then, what we're doing in the community with our ‘Power-Sport’ initiative: 200-plus student-athletes in the community, working with our Peoria Public Schools system in unprecedented ways.”
Heading into basketball season
With the men's basketball season quickly approaching, Reynolds said he's hopeful the Braves can build on last year’s regular-season Missouri Valley Conference championship.
“The expectations are always the same; we don't even talk about it anymore. We want to go out and compete to the best of our ability,” Reynolds said. “Coach (Brian) Wardle does a great job of leading the program; we have 1,000% confidence in him – what he is doing and what he has done here, as relates to lead our young men on the court. So we continue to strive to win championships, and that doesn't change each year.”
As part of the Peoria Civic Center’s three-year, $45 million capital improvement plan, Carver Arena is getting new lower-bowl seating, a new scoreboard and ribbon boards, and a new sound system. Reynolds said those upgrades will benefit both the program and its supporters.
“It's only going to enhance the fan experience, and for me, that's really important,” he said. “We want to get as many people in Carver Arena as possible and certainly these enhancements will go a long way in helping us to do that.
“I find that anytime you can upgrade, enhance, move forward and improve anything, it's a great thing. We’re really excited about the partnership with the Peoria Civic Center and everything that they mean to us, and we just want to continue to lock arm-in-arm with them to help not only Bradley basketball to move forward, but help our community to move forward.”
Bradley drew a sellout crowd for the regular-season finale, a 73-61 win over Drake that clinched the league title and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. But a week later, the Braves dropped a rematch in the MVC tourney final and missed earning their third NCAA Tournament appearance in five years.
The Braves host Saint Ambrose (Iowa) in an exhibition game on Nov. 1, before playing their 2023-24 home opener against Utah State on Nov. 11.
The upcoming season marks the second under the NCAA’s name-image-likeness (NIL) rules that allows athletes to earn compensation for endorsements and other uses of their persona. Reynolds wouldn’t characterize the new system as either positive or negative.
“The fact of the matter is NIL is here and – until we're told otherwise – it's here to stay,” he said. “So for us, it's a matter of: how can we leverage the existing rules, as relates to NIL, and make it work to our advantage?
“The great thing about it is that everybody's in the same boat as relates to this. So we just have to figure out ways as an athletic department to support our student athletes, given the current landscape of intercollegiate athletics.”
He said NIL has not posed any “hindrance to success” on the court.
“It's actually have been something that's great for student-athletes, so anything that's great for student-athletes is something that we're supportive of,” he said.
