A Message from the Director of Athletics
9/4/2019 12:00:00 PM | Tulsa Hurricane
Hello TU Nation!
As we begin another fall campaign, I want to first thank each and every one of you for your steadfast support of the TU athletic program as the University celebrates its 125th year anniversary! The University was established in 1894 and the TU football program began playing the very next year in 1895. Since that time TU has been committed to providing opportunities for its student-athletes both on and off the fields and courts of play.
Fall 2019 is now under way, but I would like to provide a brief overview of the TU athletic success since we entered the American Athletic Conference (American) five years ago. Notable accomplishments during that time include:
- Tulsa athletic teams have won 16 American Athletic Conference championships during program's tenure in the conference (second to Houston) and has had 18 second-place finishes during the same period.
- TU finished as The American's top-ranked athletics program overall in the final Learfield Cup standings in 2016-17.
- Tulsa teams have made it to the post-season 37 times, including in the sports of men's basketball, women's basketball, cross country, football (2 bowl games), men's soccer, men's tennis, women's tennis, indoor & outdoor track, softball and volleyball.
- 2016 marked the first time in school history that the football and basketball teams competed in a bowl game and the NCAA tournament in the same year.
- Four of the five highest athletics fundraising years have occurred during the past 5 years.
- Recently, the overall TU student-athlete grade point average peaked at 3.207 – highest in departmental history. The overall TU student-athlete GPA has been over 3.0 for the past 5 years.
- Over 940 student-athletes have earned conference Academic Honor Roll merits in The American during the past 5 years
- Over 280 student-athletes have earned American all-conference accolades.
- Men's Cross-Country team captain Kirk Smith named Rhodes Scholar in 2017.
- Our rowing team capped off the 2018-19 season with a foreign tour to Venice, Italy; Bled, Slovenia; and Henley on the Thames, England, competing at the prestigious Bled International and the Henley Women's Regattas. Tulsa boats enjoyed some good success on the water, while leading the way was the lightweight 2X team of Sophia Camara and Sarolta Papp with a first-place finish at the Henley.
Please help me congratulate head women's soccer coach Kyle Cussen who celebrated his 100th career win at TU last week! We are proud of Coach Cussen, his staff and the student-athletes! The team is now 2-1 after dominating wins versus Texas Southern and Little Rock and a thrilling overtime loss to OU at home this past weekend. Men's soccer has also kicked off its season well with a 2-0 start. Our soccer teams are both enjoying their new playing surface. The next women's team home game is set for this Friday, September 6 at 7:30 p.m., while the next men's home game will be held on September 20 at 8 p.m. We are also excited about our volleyball home opening tournament the weekend of Sept. 13-14, or you can catch the women at ORU on September 11 at 7 p.m.
Stay tuned as we look forward to seeing if our men's cross-country team, led by our outstanding Coach Steve Gulley, can continue its dominance as the 5-time consecutive American Athletic Conference champion. The men's cross-country program has won 9 consecutive conference titles under Coach Gulley's leadership, dating back to when TU was a member of Conference USA.
Lastly, I want to give a big welcome to TU's newest students, the Class of 2023! Here's to TU and the next 125 years! Again, THANK YOU TU NATION for all you do!
Go TU!
Derrick L. Gragg, Ed. D.
Vice President & Director of Athletics
The University of Tulsa
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