July 2, 2007

Directors' Cup
The final rankings from the NACDA Directors' Cup came out last week. Our athletic program finished 30th, marking the third-straight year that we've finished in the top 30 (we were 29th in 2004-05 and 2005-06). In the most recent rankings, we were 23rd, and were hopeful that we would top our finishes of the last two years. When the points for baseball and men's and women's track and field were allocated, though, we dropped to 30th. It was still a tremendous year for our program and a great tribute to our coaches and student-athletes. Interestingly, we earned more points in the Directors' Cup than we have ever earned. Also, we finished sixth among Big Ten schools for the third straight year. Prior to 2004-05, we had never finished better than ninth among Big Ten schools. Given the fact that we only have 19 sports, our finishes in the Directors' Cup for the last three years are especially impressive.

Summer
I am often asked what I do during the summer. I think most people assume that, since there are no games being played, there is little going on in the athletic department. While things do slow down in the summer, it is still a busy time, particularly for coaches. As recruiting has evolved over the years, summer has become the most important time for recruiting. Coaches go to camps and tournaments to identify their top prospects. Coaches also run their own camps, which assist with both recruiting and in earning additional revenue for their programs. Summer is often a time when coaching or staffing changes are made, and searches for the new employees are held. It is also a time to work on projects that are difficult to get to during the hectic sports year. Finally, the athletic department summer officially ends when the fall teams return to campus in early August.

Construction Projects
Summer is also the time when construction work is usually done on renovations and new facilities, since there are no practices or games. This is a particularly busy summer for our Department, with work being done on three separate projects--the new soccer/ lacrosse/recreation field project (on the lakefront), the Welsh-Ryan locker room project (new locker rooms and meetings rooms for men's and women's basketball) and renovations to our softball field (new dugouts, bleachers and screening). I'm excited about the impact these projects will have on our overall program.