A Message from the Director of Athletics

TU Nation:

As we close out the year, let me first say 'THANK YOU' for your support of our athletic teams and student-athletes during the 2018-19 season!

On this past Saturday, 80 student-athletes, student managers, trainers and spirit squad members received their diplomas from TU, and we're proud to say that those graduates combined for a 3.150 cumulative grade point average throughout their careers. Their academic and athletic success is a testament to the dedication and hard work they've shown throughout their collegiate careers.

Sanya and I actually had our own son, Avery, receive his diploma on Saturday along with his teammates and friends. We certainly wish our graduates the very best in their futures, and we know that they will all be outstanding representatives of The University of Tulsa and our athletic department Congratulations to the Class of 2019!

Graduation, obviously, is one of the yearly highlights, but this spring was filled with a number of significant achievements for our athletic department.

On March 21-24, TU once again served as host university for the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship 1^st and 2^nd Rounds at the BOK Center. Our third such event to host since 2011 was another success for our city and our school.

March 27 was the most significant day in TU sports history from an economic standpoint when The American and ESPN announced a new 12-year media rights agreement that begins in 2020-21. This is a game changing moment for TU athletics and our conference.

Later that same week, the American Athletic Conference's Annual Academic Consortium Symposium came to campus. We hosted over 100 students and scholars from all 13 member institutions who engage in multi-disciplinary research related to student-athlete well-being. This year's conference had a special emphasis on student-athlete mental health. In addition to President Clancy's presentation, we also had TU student-athletes and staff members presenting and serving as panelists at the event. It was a huge success.

Did you see the College Slam Dunk Contest on April 4? It goes without saying that DaQuan Jeffries put on a show! If you missed the dunking showcase that our own basketball senior put on, Google it. It's a must-watch. In the midst of winning the contest, here's some interesting facts –– the Tulsa Hurricane and Men's Basketball twitter accounts reached over 220,000 people. Also, during that week, April 1-7, the TU twitter interaction rate was 3.304% for that one event, a metric that was higher than any of the NCAA Final Four Teams for the entire week of the national championship game. Great job DaQuan!

Perhaps our most important production outside of an actual game, comes every year in April when all of our student-athletes gather for the Golden 'Cane Awards Gala at the Reynolds Center. This 24^th annual event took place on Tuesday, April 23. The night was highlighted by the announcement of this year's "Ultimate Team", an award recognizing TU's top student-athletes based on academic achievement, athletic success, campus involvement and community outreach. The "Ultimate Team" honorees were Alyssa Bolliger and Ben Preisner from cross country/track & field, Julia Hollingsworth and Morgan Neal from softball, Taylor Horsfall from volleyball, men's basketball's DaQuan Jeffries, women's basketball's Crystal Polk, Majed Kilani from tennis, rower Ellie Russell and football student-athletes Chandler Miller and Willie Wright. Congratulations to the "Ultimate Team" and all of this year's award winners!

Our nationally-ranked Softball team, winners of the last three American Athletic Conference tournament titles, has put together another solid season, finishing in second-place in the league standings, and again is on the brink of the program's 11^th NCAA appearance.

The league's Softball Tournament and Outdoor Track & Field Championships takes place this week. The American Athletic Conference's Rowing Championship will be coming to the state of Oklahoma next Sunday, May 19, as the event will be raced at the US Rowing National High Performance Center in Oklahoma City.

The nation's 11^th-ranked doubles team of Tulsa's own Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner will compete at the NCAA DI Women's Tennis Doubles Championship, May 20-25, in Orlando, Florida.

Good luck to all!

As we near season's end, we look forward to an exciting and successful upcoming 2019-20 athletic year.

I leave you with this… As a former student-athlete, I know that there is no better feeling than coming out of the locker room to see a large crowd cheering on the team. That's what we want for each of our student-athletes at TU, so we ask that you encourage family, friends, neighbors and business associates to purchase tickets and cheer on our teams in 2019-20! Remember that our football team will be hosting Oklahoma State, Central Florida, Houston and Navy this season. The countdown has begun!

Again, thanks to TU Nation for all of your support! Have an enjoyable and safe summer.

Go TU!

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Derrick L. Gragg, Ed. D.
Vice President & Director of Athletics
The University of Tulsa

A Message from the Director of Athletics

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