Happy New Year!  As 2009 embarks on us, I’d like to take the time to personally thank all of you for the support we have received, and I firmly believe the rewards for our most visible sport programs is just down the road. Please know your efforts do not go unnoticed and that we are most appreciative of your loyal following.

This is not necessarily meant to be a “state of the union” in regard to department, but let me briefly sum a few things up. 

While we missed out on the postseason in football, there are plenty of positives going on behind the scenes in the infrastructure that is setting the stage for success.  These aren’t always visible, but are necessary in laying a solid foundation, things like bolstering our academic support unit like it has never been staffed before.  We have not taken any short cuts, nor will we. 

We are pleased to learn that 40 of our football players achieved a grade point of 3.0 or above last semester. This is encouraging, and producing record-setting team grade point averages and graduation rates in the classroom, and with wins over nationally ranked teams like Oklahoma, Texas Tech and West Virginia the last two seasons, when 20 games were televised nationally, tells me we are headed in the right direction on the field.  We are this close to turning the corner and becoming a player on the national stage once again.

The cross country teams were more or less in a rebuilding mode, with the men finishing 12th in the nation, and the women taking fourth in the district without the services of our Olympian, the redshirting Jenny Barringer.

Soccer again had a great run and just fell short in the Big 12 championship game and advanced to the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.  They were able to see the completed brand new lockerroom adjacent to their field as the season came to a close.

Volleyball had some struggles as a very young team, but had a shining moment when it defeated top-ranked Nebraska.  The team couldn’t capitalize on that victory however and missed out on the NCAA’s.

Perhaps below the radar was the fall success of both our men’s and women’s golf teams.  Each team had a win, a Big 12 Golfer of the Month, and the men on three occasions had a tournament medalist.   The men were ranked as high as 10th before ending the fall at No. 47, while the women closed at No. 32; these are out of over 300 schools that compete intercollegiately on the Division I level.

And as usual in the fall, there was no team competition in women’s tennis, but several Buffs performed well with victories in the four tournaments featuring individual play.

The basketball teams are young and we must all continue to support them, which helps in recruiting, home court advantage and in the overall atmosphere surrounding both programs.  The coaches and staff relocated into their new operations center late last spring, and those dividends are already paying off in the areas of convenience and time management.  Other improvements included a sparkling renovation of the men’s lockerroom and a new hardwood floor installed on top of ground up Nike shoes that has been well received. 

The new basketball and volleyball practice court facility is on schedule and is proceeding as planned; we are raising the $10 million needed for this badly needed upgrade and all signs point toward completion by August 2010.  It will be located on the north side of the Coors Events Center.

Speaking of which, Coors will be the location of our new Athletic Hall of Fame display.  Begun in 1998 as the brainchild of my predecessor, Dick Tharp, the Hall has not had a permanent home to truly display to the public the accomplishments of the now 39-member group.  We are also working on a Wall of Fame for our track program which will be installed in Balch Fieldhouse, and shortly will be looking at a redesign of the name slates on the façade of the Fred Casotti Press Box in Folsom Field that salute those who have had their jerseys honored.