NIU men’s basketball coach Jim Rosborough and women’s basketball coach Jane Albright were the two guest speakers at the Athletic Board meeting held Wednesday.

Rosborough talked to the board members about the season’s “young” team and made reference to his squad as the future of NIU.

“You need to invest in your future like you do in your stocks and bonds,” Rosborough said. “These are kids I would pay to go see.”

In order to ensure the future, Rosborough said there were three major problems to work out. He uses academics when recruiting, because, “after all, we are here for one reason.” But athletes have a hard time enrolling in classes they need, Rosborough said.

For example, practices for the men are between 1 p.m. and 3:35 p.m. each day, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays five of the players leave one-half hour early because of 3:30 p.m. classes. Rosborough said he would like to see an early registration program for athletes.

Rosborough also wants to see a conference affiliation for the Huskies and to see improvement in the facilities.

Albright, who is heading into her fifth season as Huskie boss, said she has spent the last four years building a foundation. Unlike Rosborough, Albright said her team is not young, and she expects more experience from her team on the court this year.

But, the loss of three key players has plagued the squad. Dianna Wingis is home taking care of family problems this semester and might be back in January if she is not redshirted. Toby Meeks and Lisa Foss are still question marks because of knee injuries. Foss’ knee, according to Albright, is about 50 percent.

“She (Foss) can shoot off of it, but she can’t have any kind of contact,” Albright said. “What people have done in a year (with rehabilitation), she’s going through in six months.”

Ways of increasing support of Huskie athletics was an issue at the meeting. NIU Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell mentioned the need for more fan support at athletic events and said a spirit council is being formed for that purpose.

“We are trying to create an experience for the students,” O’Dell said, “not necessarily a winning experience but just to have fun. If they don’t go to athletic events they lose the (college) experience.”

In other business, Athletic Board Chair Curtis Norton said the $180,000 budget for football gate receipts is “very conservative” since $122,128 has already been collected. Business Manager Patty Perkins, however, said she expects the $180,000 budget to be on schedule.

Norton also pointed out an increase for grants-in-aid, saying it had been adjusted by approximately $29,000. The increase is due to the $125 surcharge fee for the spring semester.