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Georgia Southern University Athletics

Desk, TK

General

From The Desk Of TK

AD addresses Eagle Nation in letter form

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone, but here we are entering June with all of our sports now wrapped up and the summer heat of Statesboro already popping up on the 10-day forecast. Before you know it, our fall sports will be back on campus and preparing for the 2019-20 season.

Even though classes are out, we've already been working hard preparing for football season. Season ticket sales are going well as we are closing in on 6,000, but we have a goal of 7,000 sold and we need everyone's help in packing Paulson this fall. It's the first time we've had six home Saturday games in a couple of years, so I hope you all can take advantage of this opportunity.

Speaking of Paulson Stadium and football planning, we've also been hard at work getting our game day presentation ready. We've read your survey responses and listened to your suggestions. We've formulated a plan that requires some adjustments to what you've become accustomed to, but we think these upgrades to your game-day experience will make Saturdays in the fall even more enjoyable for you. We'll be rolling out all of the upgrades in the summer so you have plenty of time to make your plans!

With the spring semester wrapping up, it was exciting to see over 50 of our student-athletes earn their diplomas from Georgia Southern. Winning and success is just part of the equation, but the real reason we're in this profession is to see our athletes walk across the stage and set themselves up for success after they leave college. This spring, our department posted a 3.04 GPA with 11 of our 15 programs earning a 3.0 or higher. Three of our programs - women's tennis (28), women's swimming & diving (24) and volleyball (20) - are now all at 20 consecutive semesters or higher with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. That's really impressive! Our department Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and Academic Progress Rate (APR), all metrics used by the NCAA, both continue to climb toward department highs and I'm really proud of Reggie Simpkins and his staff for the work they do from the academic side of things.

I recently returned from the Sun Belt Conference Meetings where we had a chance to review the year, look to the future, as well as be around new commissioner Keith Gill for the first time. I'm really impressed with Keith's vision of our conference and where he sees us heading. We definitely have a bright future in the Sun Belt.

We had a really good spring, competition-wise, as well. Coach Sean McCaffrey and his women's tennis team made a Cinderella run to the Sun Belt finals, beating top-seeded Appalachian State in the first round. It was the first time in SBC history that the No. 8 seed had upset the top seed in women's tennis! Our outdoor track & field team scored the most points it has ever scored at the Sun Belt meet and baseball won the East Division of the conference, dropping a heartbreaker in the conference championship game. Ella Ofstedahl won the individual conference title in women's golf and Steven Fisk completed the sweep by winning the men's individual title. In softball, Hannah Farrell wrapped up her stellar career with an all-region selection and the team swept Georgia State in the final series of the year. Finally, our men's golf team had quite a showing at the NCAA Regional in California, placing fourth as the No. 10 seed to advance to the NCAA Finals in Arkansas and Steven finished as the NATIONAL runner-up in men's golf. So as you can see, we finished really strong and hopefully that momentum carries over to the fall.

Finally, I wanted to give you all a glimpse into our budget for next year looks like and how it's broken down.



Our revenues from ticketing, sponsorships and fundraising have risen each of the past several years and that helps us to operate in the black. We must continue to generate revenue in those areas to be a successful athletic department. Our new President, Dr. Kyle Marrero, has been great to work with his first two months and is really invested in athletics. I look forward to a great partnership as we advance Georgia Southern Athletics together.

Everyone have a great summer and I look forward to seeing you all this fall!



TK
 
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Players Mentioned

Hannah Farrell

#14 Hannah Farrell

INF
6' 1"
Junior
R/R
Ella Ofstedahl

Ella Ofstedahl

Junior
Steven Fisk

Steven Fisk

5' 10"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Hannah Farrell

#14 Hannah Farrell

6' 1"
Junior
R/R
INF
Ella Ofstedahl

Ella Ofstedahl

Junior
Steven Fisk

Steven Fisk

5' 10"
Senior