Athletics – HQ Press

Quinnipiac athletics: through the lens of a Bobcat

Photo by: Jordan Wolff (Quinnipiac has two Bobcat statues, this one is located on the York Hill Campus outside of the People’s United Center) — Photo by: **Jordan Wolff** (Quinnipiac has two Bobcat statues, this one is located on the York Hill Campus outside of the People’s United Center)

The NCAA has 347 Division I schools, and Quinnipiac University is one of them. Quinnipiac started out in the NCAA’s second highest conference known as Division II and has faculty and coaches who can describe what the transition process was like.

One of those members is Senior Associate Athletic Director Bill Mecca. For the last 41 years, Mecca has served as an assistant men’s basketball coach (1978-91), head tennis coach, assistant director of athletics and head men’s basketball coach (five seasons).

The one thing that’s resonated with Mecca is Quinnipiac’s increase in population.

“Back In 1978, Quinnipiac had probably around 1100-1200 students and if you could spell Quinnipiac back in the day, then I probably gave you an academic scholarship,” Mecca said. “In terms of where we were academically, we weren’t even close to where we are now.”

Canva By: Jordan Wolff Photos Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics: Quinnipiac Athletics five coaches who’ve been a part of the University for over 20 years. Four of them had no previous affiliation with Quinnipiac, except for Dave Clarke who graduated with a Master’s Degree in 2010. — **Canva By: Jordan Wolff**

**Photos Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics:** Quinnipiac Athletics five coaches who’ve been a part of the University for over 20 years. Four of them had no previous affiliation with Quinnipiac, except for Dave Clarke who graduated with a Master’s Degree in 2010.

In 2019, Quinnipiac has 21 Division I athletic programs, five coaches who have 20-year tenures, and a staff of 38 members. It has a soccer, field hockey and lacrosse complex built in 2017 and a rugby team that plays on campus. The York Hill campus has a re-named People’s United Center (from TD Bank) dedicated to hockey and basketball.

**Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics: Athletic Director Greg Amodio is speaking at the inaugural reception of the new Soccer, Field Hockey and Lacrosse complex opened in the fall of 2017.**

The gradual transition started in the mid-1990s.

In 1995, Quinnipiac programs were in Division II athletics. The school was known as Quinnipiac College, and the mascot was the Braves.

Quinnipiac College took a chance, as they hired Fairfield Stags alum Tricia Fabbri as their first full-time female head coach.

Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics: Tricia Fabbri, then Patricia Sacca was hired from Fairfield University in 1995. She was inducted to the Fairfield University Hall of Fame in 1998. — **Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics:** Tricia Fabbri, then Patricia Sacca was hired from Fairfield University in 1995. She was inducted to the Fairfield University Hall of Fame in 1998.

“It was different back then because there were very few full-time coaches and administrators that made up the athletics department,” Fabbri said. “It was small, but I was really excited to put a program together because I was the first full-time female coach hired.”

Canva by: Jordan Wolff The men’s programs remained the same throughout the history of Quinnipiac Athletics. The number women’s programs increased significantly, adding Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Ice Hockey, Rugby, and Acrobatics and Tumbling. — **Canva by: Jordan Wolff**

The men’s programs remained the same throughout the history of Quinnipiac Athletics. The number women’s programs increased significantly, adding Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Ice Hockey, Rugby, and Acrobatics and Tumbling.

In Fabbri’s first season, the Braves went 2-23 overall, 1-15 in conference and 1-13 at home. The Braves were also in the Northeast Conference (NEC) in which Fabbri details how difficult it was to navigate.

“The level when I initially started was not as competitive as it needed to be at that time,” Fabbri said. “I didn’t get out and start recruiting and we had a lot of ground to make-up, and not a lot of time to do it. There was a lot of catch-up to be done to get competitive in terms of resources from Division II to Division I to get in place.”

Besides the competitiveness, Mecca explained that Quinnipiac athletics didn’t have much exposure in Division II athletics.

Courtesy of Quinnipiac Chronicle: Mecca currently provides color commentary for Quinnipiac Athletics, along with hosting an annual Golf tournament named after him. — **Courtesy of Quinnipiac Chronicle:** Mecca currently provides color commentary for Quinnipiac Athletics, along with hosting an annual Golf tournament named after him.

“Division II is one of those places in college athletics, where in my opinion you’re in no man’s land.” Mecca said. “My philosophy is either go Division III, where you’re focusing on the wellness of the athletes and the student-body. Or, go Division I where there is a commitment to go to the next-level.”

Division II was a place where Quinnipiac could still offer scholarships to athletes, but weren’t funded enough to be in the NCAA’s highest conference.

A part of going to that next level was Jack McDonald. McDonald was hired as the new athletic director in August of 1995, and had a chance to sit down with former Quinnipiac president John Lahey. In that discussion, McDonald was very candid on what direction the college needed to take.

“He thought that Quinnipiac’s academic reputation was national Division I-caliber and he’d like the athletic department to catch up to the academic reputation of the school,” McDonald said. “I thought that Quinnipiac would be a great Division I school.

Maybe not the upper echelon of Division I schools, but at the time there was about 321 Division I schools and Quinnipiac would easily fit among those group of schools.”

The men’s and women’s tennis teams each made their mark in 1996-97 (last year in Division II). The men’s team finished 18-1, and went 9-0 in conference play. They were inducted into Quinnipiac’s Hall of Fame in 2014.

The women’s team went 16-2 and also went 9-0 in conference play. They were also inducted into Quinnipiac’s Hall of Fame in 2014.

In 1998, Quinnipiac declared its intent for Division I athletics. McDonald still had some groundwork in front of him. He first had to see which conference Quinnipiac could start in.

McDonald said how Quinnipiac put out multiple applications, but it was ultimately accepted into the Northeast Conference. Another step was trying to elevate the Men’s Ice Hockey Program.

In 1998, McDonald founded a whole new league called the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Hockey League. The MAAC was the men’s ice hockey team’s first Division I hockey conference and it included AIC, Army, Bentley University, Canisius College, UCONN, Fairfield University, Holy Cross, Iona College, Mercyhurst University and Sacred Heart University. The Braves went 22-4-2 in its first season in the MAAC and lost in the semi-finals to Canisius College 5-2.

More change was upon the college two years later.

Part Two: Change the Game

In 2000, Quinnipiac changed its name from Quinnipiac College to Quinnipiac University. Quinnipiac expanded its programs and were now able to grant master’s degrees. Fabbri felt it was time not just for athletics, but for the entire community.

“I thought it was appropriate,” Fabbri said. “Lahey and his administration were growing the graduate programs here, so it was a very paralleled move to keep step in time that we are now broadening what we have to offer our students with moving from college to university.”

Some programs saw immediate results. The 2000 women’s soccer team went 13-6-1 and won the NEC tournament, while the Quinnipiac field hockey team went 12-8 overall and 10-2 in the NEC. Both programs respectively made the Quinnipiac hall of fame in 2010 and 2012. The Quinnipiac Hall of Fame is a place where the University honors there most impactful members, clubs, and athletic programs.

The men’s ice hockey program continued its rise in 2001, as they went 20-13-5. They went 15-6 in the MAAC and defeated Mercyhurst 6-4 in the MAAC title game to advance to its first ever NCAA tournament. They were also inducted into the Quinnipiac Hall of Fame in 2012.

McDonald also started to do some broadcasting duties for the Braves, and discussed how putting hockey games on TV affected the process.

“We wanted people to turn on NESN looking for a Bruins game and they’d see Quinnipiac playing UConn or Fairfield,” McDonald said. “Television was a great way of getting exposure for hockey in Boston and basketball in New York.”

Quinnipiac decided to adjust its mascot two years later. In 2002, they officially changed its mascot from the Braves to the Bobcats.

According to USHCO, this was a suggested move from Lahey as he noticed that Colgate University changed its name from Red Raiders to Raiders.

Quinnipiac Vice President of Public Affairs Lynn Bushnell, stated that, “Quinnipiac’s women’s teams were offended by the use of the Lady Braves moniker, and graphic representations-logos and mascots-were similarly burdened,” the release said. “The institution, out of concern for these sensitivities, had stopped using human representations of Native Americans years ago.”

According to a Quinnipiac Chronicle article by Viktoria Sundqvist, the university’s main factor of choosing Bobcats was due to how common they are in the New England area.

Fabbri remembers how important this adjustment was for the future of the university.

“I think that was a little bit to go with the sign of the times of being politically correct in what was happening in the landscape of college athletics,” Fabbri said. “It really fueled a conversation with Lahey and McDonald. I had nothing to do with making the decision, but I was happy with the move of going from Braves to Bobcats.

The athletics department was also going through transition as they hired Northeastern alum Mike Medina in 2004 as Assistant Athletic Director for intramurals.

**Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics:** Medina graduated with a journalism degree from Northeastern University and currently serves as Quinnipiac’s Director of Fitness and Recreation.

Hockey and basketball didn’t have an arena to play in and programs were still participating in the NEC. Programs were able to wear whatever uniform they desired, but Medina shared how that’s no longer the case.

“One of the things we’ve seen is how the Bobcat has evolved,” Medina said. “We’ve had a rebrand of some of the athletic marks, in particular with the Adidas contract that has started. Prior to that contract, all of our teams wore whatever uniforms they wanted. We’ve seen the consistency of the Bobcat stay, but we’ve seen these tweaks that’ve enhanced the image of the university.”

Part Three: blueprint for success

In 2006, the Quinnipiac men’s hockey team was admitted into the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. A year later, approximately $52 Million was spent to design and open the TD Bank Sports Center on Quinnipiac’s York Hill campus.

**Photo by Jordan Wolff: This was named the TD Bank Sports Center until September of 2017, as TD Bank’s sponsorship came to an end in favor of People’s United Bank.**

Prior to that, Mecca revealed how the hockey team practiced at 11 p.m. on Sundays in East Haven. They had an opportunity to join the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference because Vermont decided to switch to the Hockey East conference. Mecca also shared how the university reacted when ECAC representatives came to visit the campus.

“We had put on emphasis on the fact that whatever we were going to do for the men, we would also do for the women,” Mecca said. “They brought bulldozers there and parked it on the side of the road. As they were driving people by in the car to show them where we we’re going to build this state-of-the-art facility, there was this bulldozer that wouldn’t start. It was on the side of the hill, signaling that we were ready to go,”

In 2009, Quinnipiac added a women’s rugby team. They won back-to-back-to-back national championships in their 10-year history.

The rugby team won its first and the inaugural varsity championship in 2015, defeating Army West Point 24-19. Quinnipiac Assistant Director for Athletic communications Nick Solari was a junior journalism major at the time, and remembers how special it was seeing it in person.

“Coach (Becky) Carlson has done a great job with that group,” Solari said. “It wasn’t your typical show up to the game and report on what you see. For the longest time, everyone associated men’s ice hockey as the team going to the national championship. They went to two frozen fours when I was a student there. Simultaneously, women’s rugby was competing for national championships too.”

**Courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics:** Solari attended Quinnipiac from 2012-16, along with covering sporting events for the Quinnipiac Chronicle.

How does everything stand today? The Bobcats saw 21 conference championships and 33 NCAA championship appearances in McDonald’s tenure.

Each program elevated to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2013, with the field hockey team joining the Big East conference that includes the #1 UConn Huskies in 2016.

**Courtesy of Quinnipiac Chronicle (Photo by Anna Brundage): The Quinnipiac 2012-13 Hockey team’s reaction after loss to Yale**

The men’s ice hockey team made it to the Frozen Four in 2013. Quinnipiac scored 1:49 into the game and added two more goals in the first period, to make it a 3-0 lead. They held on by a final of 4-1 to advance to its only NCAA championship game.

They faced their in state rival Yale Bulldogs, and were tied 0-0 entering the second period. Yale’s Christian Bourbonais scored with four seconds left in the period to make it a 1-0 game. Yale scored three unanswered goals to win by a final score of 4-0.

The women’s basketball program has won 52 straight conference games and had a memorable run in 2017. They advanced to its first NCAA tournament, where they upset the #5 Marquette 68-65 in the first round. They faced #4 Miami in the round of 32, and won 85-78 to make it to the Sweet 16.

The Quinnipiac baseball team had a historic 2019 season. They faced Fairfield in the MAAC championships and it went to extra innings tied at five. In the bottom of the 13th, junior infielder Evan Vulgamore scored on a wild pitch to send Quinnipiac to its second ever NCAA tournament.

The Bobcats traveled to Greenville, North Carolina to face the #10 East Carolina Pirates. Quinnipiac got out to a 2-0 lead with a homerun from Vulgamore. East Carolina stormed back to make it a 3-3 game, but the Bobcats senior outfielder Liam Scafariello hit a go-ahead two-run homerun to make it a 5-3 game. Quinnipiac held on to win its first ever NCAA tournament game.

The numbers show that success has come with athletic expansion, McDonald still wants athletics to continue its aggressive nature.

“One of my mottos is even if you’re on the right track, if you just stand there you’ll get run over,” McDonald said. “Whenever you’re winning games or having success, you never stop thinking ahead. You can never stop advancing yourself in any phase of life, not just athletics. It’s important to keep moving forward.”

An International sQUad

By Tom Krosnowski

It’s an interesting paradox – Earth’s population is growing exponentially, currently estimated at some 7.7 billion people. Why then, does it seem like the world is only getting smaller?

Although it’s on a much smaller scale, the Quinnipiac Bobcats are an interesting example of this phenomenon.

Quinnipiac University is a small private institution in Hamden, Connecticut. Most of the students who attend the school are from the American Northeast, and approximately 97 percent of the student body comes from somewhere within the United States.

However, it’s on the athletic fields where Quinnipiac’s commitment to international recruitment really shines.

In their never-ending search for team success, the coaches of Quinnipiac’s 21 Division-I teams have reached out overseas. International recruitment is a growing part of the collegiate athletics industry, and it’s something that has become a distinct part of the Quinnipiac Bobcat identity.

How do you think an athlete gets recruited? It seems simple enough – a coach finds potential student-athletes, talks to them, watches them play and maybe offers them a scholarship.

That’s not the case for many of Quinnipiac’s international recruits.

Meet Queenie Lai. A junior from Hong Kong, Lai could almost describe her recruitment process as “reverse recruiting.” Lai was an exceptional golfer back home, but wanted a new challenge on the links at a more competitive level. After an admittedly-late start to the recruitment process, Lai took it upon herself to achieve her goal of playing U.S. collegiate golf.

“I had to play in the States for a whole summer of tournaments, state-to-state,” Lai said. “And, I had to contact at least 50 schools and the coaches and introduce myself and ask if they were interested in recruiting me. Eventually, I landed on Quinnipiac and the coach I have right now. He was one of the nicest, and that meant a lot to me.

“I had to do most of the work.”

It’s certainly a much different story than the common assumption of university-paid travel, lavish dinners and unlimited budgets. However, Lai is not the only Quinnipiac athlete with an unconventional recruitment story.

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“I had to do most of the work.”

— Queenie Lai on recruiting

Bianca Strubbe was at a crossroads. After playing field hockey in her native Poland for 14 years, Strubbe needed a break. She traveled to the United States, settling in West Hartford as an au pair. Her love of field hockey not yet entirely quelled, Strubbe went to a Quinnipiac field hockey game at the suggestion of her host family.

After liking what she saw on the field and in the state-of-the-art facilities, Strubbe decided to bring field hockey back into her life. She played and coached at a local HTC field hockey club team, but never would have found college field hockey if not for a friendly co-worker, who informed her that she’d likely be eligible to play in the NCAA.

“I didn’t know that, to be honest,” Strubbe said. “None of my friends or Polish players know that we are very welcome in the U.S. playing in college. We don’t have any agencies, we don’t have any connection with U.S. colleges, so, to be honest, we don’t know that we have the chance to earn our degree and play field hockey here.”

Now in her second year as a graduate student at Quinnipiac, Strubbe has made a seamless transition. She’s the team’s leading scorer this season, and her English has improved immensely, thanks in part to her choosing journalism for her major.

Although foreign students are often taught English, the field hockey team is careful to keep an international influence around to keep their players comfortable.

“It’s good to have someone who has the same accent as me,” Strubbe said. “We feel comfortable, we don’t feel afraid to talk. It’s good to have international students around you.”

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“We don’t know that we have the chance to earn our degree and play field hockey here.”

— Bianca Strubbe

Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey forward Sarah-Eve Coutu-Godbout didn’t quite have that same luxury. Although she was one of seven international players on the team her freshman year, all Canadians, she was the only one who predominantly spoke French. Fortunately, head coach Cassandra Turner did her best to help Coutu-Godbout adapt.

“Cass knew right off the bat that I couldn’t really speak English, so she was very patient,” Coutu-Godbout said. “She sent me recommendations and books to read to practice my English, as well as helping me with all the stuff I needed to do. For me, that’s exactly what I needed. The integration here in the U.S. was pretty smooth because of the coaches.”

Much like Strubbe, Coutu-Godbout wasn’t initially aware of the opportunity she had to play in the United States, albeit for different reasons.

“In Quebec, they want to maintain all the Quebec players in Canada. It’s kind of against them to go to the U.S.,” Coutu-Godbout said. “So a lot of the teams won’t help you get a spot on a (U.S.) team, so I was pretty much doing it by myself.

“The girls (in America) can be recruited at 13, but in Quebec, it’s another world. They want to keep it away, they don’t want you to come here.”

Even though her peers didn’t want Coutu-Godbout to play college hockey stateside, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I really enjoy it here,” Coutu-Godbout said. “I think it’s the perfect choice for me, and I’m really happy about it. I never looked back on it.”

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“In Quebec, it’s another world. They want to keep it away, they don’t want you to come here.”

— Sarah-Eve Coutu-Godbout

How much can you learn about someone through a computer screen? According to the coaches at Quinnipiac, quite a bit.

“This generation is a little different,” men’s soccer coach Eric Da Costa said. “Unfortunately, communication is a little bit harder in terms of getting on the phone and having a phone conversation, so we do a lot of Skype, we do a lot of WhatsApp, FaceTime, just trying to get that time with the guys and figure out who they are, what they’re about, what makes them tick, and (if) that fits into what we do here.”

If Da Costa and his coaching staff have the ability to travel overseas to visit a player, they will. More often than not though, the soccer team recruits its players over the internet due to budgetary and travel restrictions.

“We have to be cautious about how we spend our money,” Da Costa said.

According to Da Costa, it’s easier to recruit international soccer players than Americans.

“Recruiting the American kids is actually a lot more difficult for us,” Da Costa said. “They want the glitz, they want the glamour. They know the differences between the institutions in terms of prestige or popularity, so they look their nose down at us.”

Once coaches have a good experience with a player from a certain area, they are more likely to revisit that region in future recruiting. Take Quinnipiac field hockey, for example. Head coach Becca Main has presided over the program for all 25 years of its existence, and has designated “pockets” of international talent. The team likes to focus its recruiting efforts in areas like South Africa, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain, where several successful players have come from before.

Field hockey is uniquely positioned for international recruiting, compared to some of Quinnipiac’s other sports. According to Main, international players are the preferred recruits for the program due to their added experience.

“(International recruits) have almost 10 years on an American student – they’ve been playing 10 years longer,” Main said. “In general, most Americans have been playing 4-6 years, max. … You get (an international) coming in, they’ve got 16 years (of experience). They’re just better at playing the sport.”

With all of the different languages and cultures on the team, Main tries to make sure that each international player has at least one other teammate who speaks their language. It could be hard to mesh all these different pieces together, but creative thinking from the coaching staff makes it all fit.

“I think the best thing about our international players is that, the ‘groupthink mentality’ – we don’t have that anymore,” Main said. “We have the ability to think outside the box.”

Athletic recruitment is one thing, but these are still “student”-athletes. The players must fit into Quinnipiac’s academic profile, and the admissions department gives very clear outlines to the coaches about what requirements each student-athlete needs to be accepted into Quinnipiac, from English language scores to academic grades.

Andrew Antone, director of international recruitment and admissions at Quinnipiac, says that once the students get to Quinnipiac, the school has several resources to help international students adapt.

“We have a global partners program where students are mentored by upperclassmen, and say, ‘OK, this is how you make the transition,’” Antone said. “We have global education, where they can be with other students. We have an international student orientation, which I think is a big help for them.”

To continue to attract international students, the university has initiated a new “Strategic Plan” that emphasizes globalization among the steps toward becoming the university of the future. Antone believes that the strategic plan will help make Quinnipiac even more appealing to international students.

“Especially with the new strategic plan, I think you’re going to see that number (of international students) grow, given what we’re offering,” Antone said. “The way that we’re looking forward … I think what the strategic plan does is force us to look within and change some of the policies and the way we do things to enhance everyone else’s experiences.”

In all, there are about 70 international student-athletes from more than 20 countries. That may not sound like a lot with Quinnipiac’s student population of over 10,000 and a core of student-athletes almost 500 deep.

To the international players though, it’s not about the numbers. It’s about the experience – an experience that has made Quinnipiac athletics more diverse, and more talented.

“I feel like I’m experiencing the same college experience as other people,” Lai said. “I wouldn’t say it’s any different than how they’re experiencing it.”

Quinnipiac isn’t as well-known as some other Division-I programs. None of the 10 international students interviewed said they knew anything about Quinnipiac before they were first recruited. Once they hear about all the school has to offer them, it’s hard to say no.

“We’ve closed those gaps with this (soccer) facility, obviously our institution, our campus,” Da Costa said. “At the end of the day, an international kid and his family want to go to a place where they’re cared about. They want to go to a place where they can study and play at two high levels. They want to go to a place where they can feel safe – and enjoy.

“And we can offer all of that.”

adidas remains silent in communications with Quinnipiac

By Ryan Chichester

The adidas brand can be seen scattered around most college campuses, its three-tiered triangle logo carrying a sense of prideful omnipresence. The company saw an 18-percent increase in sales in 2016 as it continues to be a pillar in the sports equipment industry, embracing their motivating slogan “Impossible is nothing.”

Most were shocked to hear the adidas name dragged through a groundbreaking controversy as news broke in early October about deals with multiple prominent schools that were being investigated by the FBI. National powerhouses like Louisville, USC and Miami reportedly accepted thousands of dollars from adidas to sign certain coveted recruits, which has resulted in a major shakeup in the college basketball world, and more dark corners of the sport figure to be exposed as the investigation rages on.

The national saga also has the potential to hit close to home for students and athletes at Quinnipiac University.

Quinnipiac recently announced a partnership with adidas, and teams began sporting the logo in July. The current partnership is expected to last through the 2023-2024 season.

“adidas has a phenomenal reputation and a long history of providing an excellent product to college and professional teams,” Quinnipiac director of athletics Greg Amodio said back when the partnership was first announced.

However, the reputation of adidas has taken a massive hit due to the recent scandal, and leaves the company’s relationship with Quinnipiac in question. How is the school handling the massive blemish on its new athletic apparel provider? Could the adidas logo next to the cursive Q turn from a badge of honor to a scarlet letter?

According to school officials, the shockwaves of the national scandal don’t reverberate onto Quinnipiac campuses, and there has been no contact from the company since arrests were made.

“I haven’t heard anything,” Associate Athletic Director Ken Sweeten said of any contact with Adidas since the scandal hit social media two weeks ago. “The Athletic Director hasn’t heard anything. I haven’t received any statement from adidas. If we haven’t by now, I don’t think we will.”

Sweeten’s sentiments are echoed elsewhere on campus, particularly in the Office of Residential Life, where student Resident Assistants (RAs) are now also sporting the adidas logo on their uniforms, although some students have taken to using their name tags as a mask to cover the iconic logo on their chest.

“I have not heard any comments or seen any change in attitude from RAs regarding the adidas logo on their staff shirts.” Director of Residential Life Mark DeVilbiss said.

Players haven’t noticed any change either, aside from a slight annoyance of having to store away all of their previous non-adidas gear that is now off limits when it comes to any Quinnipiac-related activities.

Quinnipiac is on a much smaller scale than schools like Kansas and Louisville in terms of academic prominence, but even many of those schools like have not heard from the company, or the FBI.

“I think that’s probably a good thing.” Sweeten said about the silence from the adidas offices.

While there seems to be a lack of concern on campus, men’s basketball head coach Baker Dunleavy acknowledges the magnitude of the situation.

“It’s an earth-shattering investigation,” Dunleavy said. “It’s one of those things that make you focus on yourself even more. You have to make sure your own house is good, and you’re doing things the right way, and compliantly.”

adidas did issue a brief statement shortly after the news broke, saying they were “unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with any authorities.” The lack of conduct with the school is seen as sign of business as usual for Quinnipiac, although it is clear the early stages of the partnership are off to an interesting start.