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Jeff Borzello, ESPN Staff Writer
Howard University leadership has not yet vetted men’s basketball coach Kenny Blakeney’s proposal to sell a one-third stake in his program in exchange for $100 million, the school told ESPN in a statement on Tuesday.
The Washington Post reported last week that Blakeney met with a private equity firm in June and spoke with potential investors in July, with the end goal of preventing Howard’s men’s basketball program from getting “left behind” in the ever-changing college sports landscape.
In a statement provided to ESPN on Tuesday, Howard athletic director Kery Davis said Blakeney’s plans “reflect his own personal ideas and have not been vetted by University leadership.”
“Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kenny Blakeney is a terrific leader of young men and has made a significant contribution to our Athletics Department and the University at large, recruiting phenomenal student athletes and navigating the program to consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances the last two seasons,” Davis said. “Like all of our coaches and athletic administrators, Coach Blakeney continues to enthusiastically explore ideas to generate financial support that will allow our student athletes to be more competitive as they represent the University. Over the years, we have been extremely fortunate to secure sponsorships and gifts that have tremendously helped our 21 Division I teams, from a multi-million-dollar renovation of our training facility to covering expenses for student athletes to engage in cultural enrichment programs allowing them to travel and compete abroad.
“Recent remarks attributed to Coach Blakeney reflect his own personal ideas and have not been vetted by University leadership.”
According to the Post, Blakeney is looking to secure an initial $100 million to improve the program’s arena and roster, and then either go independent or join a bigger conference. Blakeney would put $50 million toward renovations to Burr Gymnasium, while he would then spend $4 million to $5 million in name, image and likeness money to build a roster.
The recent House settlement will allow schools to pay players directly — up to 22% of the average revenue from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships — with power conference schools expected to be able to spend between $20 million and $22 million.
“I don’t want to have a two-tiered system where we’re not able to compete for the NCAA tournament or the national championship,” Blakeney told the Post. “And from what I’m hearing right now, that is a real possibility, that there’s going to be an NCAA tournament that isn’t going to include everyone else; it’s just going to include those Power Four [conference] universities and maybe the Big East. That’s not what I signed up for.”
While Blakeney is the first known college coach to actively pursue private equity investment, this isn’t the first time private investment and college sports have been intertwined in the last year. ESPN reported in June that the Big 12 was in talks with private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for a 15%-20% stake in the league, while Florida State has reportedly discussed securing private equity if needed for a potential departure from the ACC.
“We’re just at the beginning of it,” Blakeney said. “But I do feel like there is a short window of opportunity because the speed that NIL is moving, the transfer portal is moving, the professionalism of our business is happening. This s— has to take place fast. There has to be some conversations.”