Three weeks ago Florida Gulf Coast University president Wilson Bradshaw was in New York, all dressed up for a special moment. For the first time, a student from the university’s Bower School of Music was playing Carnegie Hall.
As much of a breakthrough as that piano recital was, it created not a ripple of national attention. Certainly not when compared with the tidal wave of notice given the school’s basketball team for winning two games in March.
“If it takes the success of the men’s basketball program to bring folks to our website to find out what we’re all about, then I’m fine with that,” Bradshaw said.
A surprising NCAA tournament run like that enjoyed by Florida Gulf Coast — the first 15th seed to advance to the Sweet 16 — opens a world of opportunity to a mid-sized 16-year-old university with little national name recognition.
“The entire university has a window to sell itself. It’s like it’s prom night, and we need to be ready for it,” Eagles athletic director Ken Kavanagh said.
The team, and by extension the university, has been featured by nearly every national media outlet as the darling of this tournament. Some significant misconceptions were put to rest.
“For some reason people thought of us being a community college or some small institution somewhere,” Bradshaw said. “It’s really clear now that people fully appreciate we are a comprehensive residential state university of significant size.”
The effects of upsetting Georgetown and San Diego State last week have been sweeping: The university had almost 180,000 hits on its website within 24 hours of its most recent victory. The school bookstore could not keep gear in stock. One big booster was so excited that he messaged congratulations to Bradshaw while on a river trip on the Amazon.
With an enrollment of more than 13,000 students, Florida Gulf Coast’s goal is to soon push upwards of 20,000. Football is only at the study stage, so it is left to basketball to do the heavy promotional lifting.
“(The NCAA tournament) will be a fleeting moment, but I think if we manage it appropriately it can have long-term impact,” Bradshaw said.
“I expect that this visibility, this notoriety that we’re experiencing at this moment will manifest itself in many ways.”
About the Author
