• The KillerFrogs

GoFrogs: From the Desk of #ADJD

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Lifelong Frog
https://gofrogs.com/news/2019/6/6/from-the-desk-of-adjd.aspx

GoFrogs: From the Desk of #ADJD

POSTSEASON FIXTURES
As our 2018-19 athletics season concludes tonight at 5:30 p.m. with Du Mapaya competing in the triple jump final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, we've had a tremendous final stretch. Eighteen of our 21 sports were represented in postseason play by either teams or individuals with 10 sports ranked in the national top 25. We've totaled four team and individual national championships and eight Big 12 titles.

Du and our men's 4x400 relay team (Jostyn Andrews, Tinotenda Matiyenga, Glenn Bender, Derrick Mokaleng) became our latest conference champions as they earned gold last month at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Men's tennis made its third Elite Eight appearance in the last five seasons, while Alex Rybakov became the second player in our history to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. We are the only men's tennis program nationally to finish in the top 10 in each of the last five years. Men's golf was one of the last 15 teams still playing as it advanced to the NCAA Championship and earned its third top-15 finish in the last five seasons. Baseball made a nice run at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and secured its 14th postseason appearance in the last 16 years, winning two regional games.

ECAPPING "A NIGHT WITH LT AT TCU"
We very much appreciate everyone who made our inaugural "A Night with LT at TCU" presented by TXO such an incredible success. LaDainian Tomlinson has set the model nationally for student-athletes giving back to their alma mater. By partnering with TCU in the creation of The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund, LaDainian is focused on our student-athletes being successful long after their time on campus. CLICK HERE for a look back at the evening. You can still show your support for The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund with a gift through the TCU Frog Club at frogclub@tcu.edu or 817-257-7700.

PURPLE WITH PURPOSE
Along the lines of LaDainian Tomlinson setting up our student-athletes with lessons and experiences that will last a lifetime, we're extremely proud of our Purple with Purpose program. Now in its third year, our student-athlete study abroad experience is led by Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator Kim Johnson. This year's hand-picked group of 10 student-athletes traveled to the Dominican Republic where it partnered with Esperanza International, a faith-based non-profit organization devoted to helping alleviate poverty.

Please CLICK HERE for a recap of the trip. In addition to Kim, this year's travel contingent included:

Jacey Albaugh, Equestrian
Caleb Biggurs, Football
Kevin Chao, Men's Swimming and Diving
Payton Crews, Soccer
Nate Guyton, Football
Emily Haag, Rifle
Lauren Heard, Women's Basketball
Makena Martin, Volleyball
Claire Munster, Women's Swimming and Diving
Michael Onyemaobi, Football
Joe Brown, Alumnus
Drew Dennison, Director of Athletics Video Production
Aracely DeRose, Lead Learning Specialist, Athletics Academic Services
Miguel Reyes, Alumnus

LAST STOP KANSAS CITY
It was great to be in Kansas City last night with Gary Patterson, Jamie Dixon and Raegan Pebley for the final leg of our TCU Coaches Nights. During our spring tour, we were also able to hit Houston, Midland, Dallas and Austin. We appreciate everyone who was able to come out and visit with us. We're also excited to be adding Chicago to next year's tour.

BIG 12 UPDATE
Our latest round of Big 12 meetings concluded last week in Las Colinas and, again, we couldn't be more excited about the momentum we have in the conference. As you likely saw in media coverage, we reached record levels in revenue distribution with those numbers projected to grow even further in subsequent years.

The Big 12 is the only conference to place a team in the College Football Playoff and Men's Basketball Final Four in each of the last two seasons. The Big 12 won national championships this season in women's basketball (Baylor), women's gymnastics (Oklahoma) and men's tennis (Texas) while being a runner-up in men's basketball (Texas Tech).

It's not a Big 12-sponsored sport, but we obviously add to the national championship total with our rifle title.

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TopFrog

Lifelong Frog
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WE ARE RIFF RAM"
A reminder that everyone has an opportunity for involvement in our new Riff Ram video to be played at home football games this fall. As you will see, fan involvement is the theme! Just CLICK HERE to enter your submission.

TICKET UPDATES
It's a busy time for our folks in the Parrish Family Athletics Ticket Office. We now have season tickets available for our upcoming football, soccer and volleyball seasons. Additionally, we also have tickets on sale for all our road football games. Just visit GoFrogs.com, drop by in person (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or call 817-257-FROG (3764).

KICKOFF TIMES ANNOUNCED
In case you missed last week's announcement, kickoff times were announced for three of our football games this fall. We're at 7 p.m. for our August 31 season opener versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The September 14 game at Purdue will be at 6:30 p.m. CDT (7:30 p.m. EDT) and televised on the Big Ten Network. The November 29 regular-season finale at home versus West Virginia will be at 2:30 p.m. on either ABC or ESPN.

STUDENT-ATHLETE AND COACH RECOGNITIONS
For the month of May, our departmental Student-Athletes of the Week were the following:



May 7 – Luc Fomba (men's tennis) and Charles King (baseball)
May 14 – Alastair Gray (men's tennis) and Du Mapaya (track and field)
May 21 – Nick Lodolo (baseball) and Stefano Mazzoli (men's golf)
May 28 – Jared Janczak (baseball) and Alex Rybakov (men's tennis)

Additionally, our May Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Month were Josh Watson (baseball) and Destiny Longmire (track and field).

On the conference and national front, our student-athletes were also well represented. Both our golf programs had a pair of All-Big 12 recipients. Greta Bruner and Sabrina Iqbal represented our women's team, while Stefano Mazzoli and Big 12 champion Hayden Springer were recognized on the men's side. We also captured Big 12 Men's and Women's Golf Scholar-Athletes of the Year as Hayden was the co-male recipient and Annika Clark was named on the women's side.

Jake Guenther and Nick Lodolo were first-team selections on the All-Big 12 Baseball Team. We totaled 10 all-conference honorees, while Jake was also named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, our volleyball program had the second-most players nationally on the U.S. Junior National Training Team in Katie Clark and élan McCall.

We also had Devin Bowen from men's tennis recognized as the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.

RAFTED
Congrats to our school record nine baseball student-athletes who were selected in this year's MLB Draft! Going seventh overall to the Cincinnati Reds, Nick Lodolo was the first pitcher taken, the highest draft pick in our program's history and our fourth first-round selection. Brandon Williamson then gave us two players in the first 59 picks when he was drafted in the second round by the Seattle Mariners. Also selected were Johnny Rizer (Baltimore Orioles), Jake Guenther (Tampa Bay Rays), Josh Watson (Oakland Athletics), Zach Humphreys (Milwaukee Brewers), Alex Isola (Minnesota Twins), Jared Janczak (Cleveland Indians) and Jake Eissler (Cleveland Indians).

With L.J. Collier in football, we're one of just six schools nationally this year to have a first-round pick in both football and baseball. In fact, we also accomplished the feat in 2014 with Jason Verrett and Brandon Finnegan.

Speaking of the professional ranks, congrats as well to Amy Okonkwo as she heads to Spain to continue her basketball career with her TCU degree in hand.

ON THE BALLOT
It was great to see Head Football Coach Gary Patterson on this year's ballot for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, and he's not the only Horned Frog candidate. Mike Renfro, who had a great career as a wide receiver for us in the 1970s before playing for the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys, is on the Veteran's ballot.

STAFF PROMOTIONS
We have some incredibly talented folks on our staff, many of whom work behind the scenes to support our student-athletes and coaches. Please join me in congratulating the below individuals on their recent promotions!

Erin Brown, Director of Compliance
John Denton, Associate Athletics Director for Athletics Alumni Relations and Director of the TCU Lettermen's Association
Brooke Helms, Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Nutrition
Clayton Regian, Associate Director of Athletics Video Production
Rory Rutledge, Director of Athletics Marketing
Steven Schoon, Director of Athletics Communications

IT'S A STRIKE
It was great to have Dr. Stuart Flynn, founding dean of our new medical school, throw out the first pitch at TCU Night at the Texas Rangers' May 20 home game versus Seattle. I was at our Coaches Event in Dallas that night and had to unfortunately miss it, but I hear Dr. Flynn's accuracy and velocity on the mound went viral. He may have even drawn the attention of Coach Schloss!

HORNED FROG PRIDE
The Davey O'Brien Foundation obviously has a close relationship to TCU, and I'm very proud to serve on its Board of Trustees. It was great to see Kendall Iles recently named its new Executive Director. In addition to being a TCU graduate and a former student intern in our communications office, Kendall is the daughter-in-law of TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Famer Buddy Iles.

FIST BUMP
This month's Fist Bump goes to Sodexo TCU. In its catering role, Sodexo TCU provided an unsolicited $10,000 gift-in-kind for "A Night with LT at TCU." In the spirit of teamwork that defines our campus community, Sodexo TCU wanted to show its commitment to The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund and the impact it will have on our 500-plus student-athletes.

DID YOU KNOW?
On the heels of our men's golf program posting a top-15 finish at the NCAA Championship, did you know Dan Jenkins was a golf letterman for us while he was beginning his legendary sports writing career? When you look back at Dan's career, it's amazing to realize he covered 232 major championships, including 63 U.S. Opens, 45 British Opens, 56 PGAs and 68 Masters. It was a very proud moment for us two years ago when we were able to recognize him with the dedication of the Dan Jenkins Press Box at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

FEEDBACK WELCOME
Thank you to all of you who provide feedback throughout the year. Via personal messages on Twitter (@JDonati_TCU) or Instagram (jdonati_tcu), please feel free to share feedback with me on any aspect of our athletics program or your game-day experience. If you're not on social media, my email address is j.donati@tcu.edu. I always look forward to hearing from you.

As we wrap up competitive sports seasons for the spring, it is evident that summer is officially here! I hope you all are able to enjoy the season with friends and family…just don't forget the sunscreen and bug spray.

Go Frogs!
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Jeremiah Donati, J.D.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
 
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