Support the Huntington University
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Some Background . . .NAIA Division II basketball rules limit the total amount of scholarship money that can be provided to a school's varsity basketball players to an amount equal to the value of six full-ride scholarships for any given year. This amount will vary from school to school, of course, depending upon the cost of tuition, room, board and fees at each school. As an example, if the monetary value of a full-ride at an NAIA school is $25,000, that school can give no more than a total of $150,000 (6 x $25,000) in scholarship awards to all of its varsity basketball players.Typically, players in NAIA Division II do not receive full-ride scholarships, in part because a team needs more than six players. As a result, varying scholarship amounts are awarded to a larger number of players, which is perfectly within the intent of the rules, so long as the total amount of these awards from any source does not exceed the equivalent of six full-rides. 
Why Help HU Basketball . . .The majority of the schools in the League provide 100% of the athletic scholarship funds allowed by the NAIA, but Huntington does not; it provides just 55% of that amount. Furthermore, the school does not provide an ample budget to run the basketball program in a top-notch manner. In fact, HU is the only school in the League without a full-time basketball coach. Nevertheless, it expects the Foresters to compete against other teams that are fully staffed and well funded. Obviously, these limitations could put the Foresters at a serious disadvantage if it were not for the generosity of its fans. To give the quality young men at Huntington a chance to compete on an equal basis, supplementary funds are provided by donations and special fund-raising events.Huntington basketball doesn't work around the rules, nor does it operate a Junior Varsity program for a deeper bench or player development as some schools do (scholarships awarded to JV players do not count in limits described above). In addition, players at HU are held to the highest standard of student conduct. While this may put Huntington at a disadvantage compared to some schools in attracting certain players, it never puts the program at a disadvantage in attracting the high quality students who embrace the values of the school. Those who play basketball for HU are real students; they're not there just to play basketball. What You Can Do . . .You can help provide funds that will keep funding of the program close to the financial levels of most schools by participating in the annual fund-raisers, such as the Golf Outing in the summer and the Meet-the-Team Dinner in the fall. Those two events help in raising funds for the program, but a big gap still remains. To get closer to equal footing with other programs, the school must rely on corporate sponsorships and individual donations (designated for the men's basketball program).If you manage a company and would consider corporate sponsorship, please contact Coach Ty Platt for additional information. If you are an individual who values the tradition of quality students participating in quality athletics at HU, write a check in any amount payable to Huntington University (likely tax deductible, but consult your tax advisor) and designate it for the Men's Basketball program. To have it designated, please send it directly to: |
Coach Ty Platt Huntington University 2303 College Avenue Huntington, IN 46750 |
NOTE: This information has not been provided by Huntington University or Coach Platt, but if you have questions or want more information, send Coach Platt an email at tplatt@huntington.edu or give him a call at (260) 359-4217. Help provide scholarships for quality students playing quality basketball at a quality university.GO FORESTERS! |
Paul Harrington, Fort Wayne, IN