Pipe Dreams

Sac State president leads Hornets to unknown path

By R.E. Graswich
Photography Submitted by Sacramento State University
June 2025

Thanks to sports, Sacramento State University has become an institution of higher incoherence.

The school is on a mission to Jupiter without a guidance system. If there’s a realistic destination, it’s not on Google Maps.

Sac State’s foolishness became obvious several weeks ago when the athletics department circulated an email titled, “Future Hornet Stadium Survey.”

As an alumnus (graduation pending from 1978, nine units short), I couldn’t pass up the survey.

There are questions about how often I visit campus (about once a year), why I visit (to look at the buildings) and how often I attend Hornet football games (maybe once every three years).

Finally, there are questions about the “new football game day experience,” which include seven “fan enhancements” under consideration. Among the enhancements are food trucks, more leg room and nicer restrooms.

When the survey asks my thoughts about the improvements, I pick “Neutral.” Truth is, nothing about these enhancements will change my mind about attending Sac State football games—or any sporting event.

I’ve never known a sports fan who bought tickets based on food trucks, leg room and toilets.

This is the disconnect from reality, the blast of incoherence that hit Sac State with the arrival of President Luke Wood in 2023.

Wood is driving Sac State to parts unknown.

To be fair, let’s praise Wood’s enthusiasm for Sac State. Let’s admire his climb through academia to the big job at his alma mater.

But when his ego and ambitions produce absurdities about a new football stadium and membership in the Pacific 12 or Mountain West Conference, someone has to speak up.

And when Wood hires Mike Bibby to coach the men’s basketball team—the same Mike Bibby who never coached a college game and whose brief high school coaching career ended with a police investigation and fast exit—somebody has to say something.

For decades, Sac State coaches gazed across California and wondered why they couldn’t play with Fresno State, San Diego State and San Jose State. The question was hypothetical for a school that habitually lost to UC Davis.

But the Hornets kept dreaming. The barrier was money.

Since their midcentury origins, Sac State teams lacked the cash, alumni muscle and facilities to get noticed by Division 1 or Football Bowl Subdivision leagues.

Wood and friends point to the region’s 1.5 million residents and insist the market makes many big-name campus communities look small. True.

But Wood ignores two points. First, market size is unimportant in college sports. Second, the region has no history of support for college athletics. A college fan base takes decades to build.

Here’s what matters in college sports: generous, wealthy alumni and financial firepower to hire coaches and players.

With freedom to transfer and get paid, college athletes chase big dollars. They demand the best weight rooms and facilities. Wood says his new football stadium will hold 25,000 fans. That’s too small for top players.

Wood claims commitments of more than $35 million from boosters to buy football and basketball talent. Converting that boast into cash is another story.

Real numbers should terrify a college president.

University of Oregon’s annual budget for football and basketball is $43 million, plus $23 million in booster payments to football players. Fresno State spends $45 million on 17 teams and anticipates a $3.8 million athletics deficit this year.

Sac State’s sports budget is about $36 million, a number made possible by $30 million from student fees and state support. The future is bleak. Sac State faces $45 million reductions in state funds.

Why would Wood push his university toward a predatory sports environment of diminished returns? His answers suggest desperation.

“In light of the budget crisis, we have to be more aggressive in our athletic endeavors in order to ensure that students are attracted to attend Sacramento State,” Wood says.

In other words, high-quality, relevant academic programs won’t draw a crowd.

R.E. Graswich can be reached at regraswich@icloud.com. Follow us on Facebook at Instagram: @insidesacramento.