GoFrogs: From The Desk of #ADJD

https://gofrogs.com/news/2020/2/10/general-from-the-desk-of-adjd.aspx

GoFrogs: From The Desk of #ADJD

SPRING FOOTBALL SCRIMMAGE SET
Please mark your calendars for Saturday, March 28! We will have a spring football scrimmage in Amon G. Carter Stadium. More details will be coming soon. Following the football scrimmage, our baseball team will host Oklahoma with a 2 p.m. first pitch.

LEGENDS CLUB AND SUITES UPDATE
Our Amon G. Carter Stadium Legends Club and Suites are nearing completion. While we are sold out of suites and loge boxes, we still have a limited number of club seats available at all three priority levels. Please CLICK HERE if you are interested and would like to be contacted about Legends Club seating options for the 2020 season.

WELCOME NEW HORNED FROGS!
One of my favorite events is our annual February Signing Day reception. It was another sold-out crowd as our football staff talked about our 21 newcomers and their journey to TCU. However, we had a different twist this year. With our regular "Voices of the Horned Frogs" Brian Estridge and John Denton in Stillwater for our men's basketball game at Oklahoma State, I was honored to serve as the evening's emcee. Yes, I'm on the depth chart below Brian and John. It was fun, and I appreciate all of you in attendance being a very kind audience to me.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE OFFICE CAMPUS VISIT
We had some very distinguished guests on campus last week. We were honored to host Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and his leadership team for a great visit with our coaches, administration and student-athletes on a variety of topics specific to each group. We also enjoyed some fellowship in strengthening our relationship with a conference we are proud to call our home.

SURVEY RESULTS
We very much appreciate all of you who completed our football season ticket holder survey. Your feedback is very important! There were some things that indeed caught our eye and, as always, we will find ways in which we can make those improvements. Overall, it was apparent that the new game day changes were well received but we need to find more ways to effectively communicate those so that everyone can enjoy the "new" aspects of game day. Be on the lookout for even more positive adjustments for the 2020 season!

IT'S OFFICIAL
Thank you to all the Horned Frogs and everyone worldwide who cast their votes through UNISWAG and made our Nike Fierce Red Uniform the winner as "Uniform of the Year" for the 2019 football season. Nike did an incredible job in its concept and design of the uniform which we wore in our 37-27 win over Texas. It's safe to say you just might see this look again in the near future!

TICKET NOTES
It's busy times in the Parrish Family Athletics Ticket Office. We are in the midst of football season ticket renewals. Thank you to those who have already done so! If you haven't renewed yet, just CLICK HERE for a quick video on how easy the process is.

If you are a baseball season ticket holder, you should have received your tickets. The season starts this Friday – see you at the ballpark!

HORNED FROGS HITTING KC
Kansas City is not just home to the Super Bowl champions. It is also the site of this year's Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Championships. Yes, our teams will be playing simultaneously in the City of Fountains. The men will again be downtown at the Sprint Center, while the women will be just down the street at the Memorial Auditorium.

If you haven't been to Kansas City for this event, please add it to your bucket list. I've been to a lot of conference basketball tournaments and no one does it better than the Big 12 and city of Kansas City in its Power & Light District.

SPEAKING OF CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Our rifle program will be hosting the Patriot Rifle Conference Championships Saturday and Sunday. We will welcome league rivals Air Force, Alaska Fairbanks, Ohio State and UTEP to campus and Fort Worth. We are hoping to begin the new decade in the same manner we closed the last one – winning a national title!

IN THE WIN COLUMN
How about our women's basketball program! Predicted to finish eighth in the Big 12, we are currently 8-2 and in sole possession of second place. We are also just outside the AP Top 25. Based on votes received, we are 27th.

Baseball, ranked as high as 20th in preseason polls, is one of six sports we currently have in the national top 25. Rifle is No. 2, equestrian No. 7, men's tennis 11th, beach volleyball 15th and men's indoor track and field at No. 21.

If you need some Valentine's Day plans, make a point to drop by Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium at Williams-Reilly Field for our 2020 baseball opener against Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. This year's First Pitch Banquet was a memorable one as we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of our first College World Series appearance. In case you have not seen our documentary on that special season, please CLICK HERE.

STUDENT-ATHLETE RECOGNITIONS
We recognize TCU Student-Athletes of the Week each week. Please see below for our January recipients:

January 8 – RJ Nembhard (men's basketball) and Michelle Berry (women's basketball)
January 15 – Desmond Bane (men's basketball) and Lauren Heard (women's basketball)
January 22 – Adeola Akomolafe (women's basketball) and Stephanie Grundsoee (rifle)
January 29 – Alastair Gray (men's tennis), Kevin Samuel (men's basketball) and Kianna Ray (women's basketball)

Our January Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Month were Alastair Gray (men's tennis), Casey Lutz (rifle) and Kianna Ray (women's basketball).

Additionally, Lauren Heard was named Monday as the Big 12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week after averaging a double-double in our wins over Oklahoma State and Kansas State. Desmond Bane was selected as one of 10 finalists for the Jerry West Award, recognizing the nation's top shooting guard. Alastair Gray from men's tennis received Big 12 Player of the Week honors. Our men's and women's swimming and diving programs were both recognized as College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America teams for the fall semester, while Dusan Babic was a Big 12 Swimmer of the Week after wins in the 100 and 1,000 Free against West Virginia. We also had equestrian's Claire Dittrich earn NCEA Rider of the Month accolades.

HORNED FROGS NETWORKING NIGHT – WOMEN LEADERS
A responsibility of collegiate athletics is preparing student-athletes for life after athletics. In honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, we had a special evening Tuesday as our Student-Athlete Development Office presented our inaugural Horned Frogs Networking Night: Women Leaders. The program was one of several this year focused on networking, identity and life after sport. Emceed by Emily Haag and Catherine Miller from our national champion rifle program, the event had nearly 200 female student-athletes participate. Former women's golfer Camille (Blackerby) Barton, graduated soccer players Alexis Harris and Michelle Prokoff and women's basketball greats Zahna Medley-Kindred and Adrianne Ross took part in a panel discussion moderated by Head Women's Basketball Coach Raegan Pebley. Among the topics covered were transitioning out of sport, women in the workforce and the application of transferable skills as a former student-athlete. Following the panel, the student-athletes had the opportunity to network with the panelists and 50 other women from the Fort Worth community who were in attendance.

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FIST BUMP
This month's Fist Bump goes to Graciela Todd. Taking care of people is not just in her job description as TCU's Catering Director through Sodexo, it's in her DNA. Graciela is one of the more selfless people I know. At our last home football game versus West Virginia, a Mountaineers' radio announcer fell on the stairwell making his way to their broadcast booth. Upon learning of the accident, Graciela immediately helped bring ice for his shoulder and tissues and bandages for his knee. While still taking care of her regular game-day duties in the Champions Club and Suites, Graciela made a point to constantly check on our visitor from Morgantown to make sure he was okay until doctors and training staff were able to evaluate him. Thank you, Graciela, for representing what TCU is about!

DID YOU KNOW?
Just like it affected many around the world, the sudden passing of Kobe Bryant hit us hard at TCU. I saw student-athletes from several of our sports noticeably shaken by the sad news. It also hit me personally. I used to live in Newport Beach, and I would see Kobe and his family around town. I even had the opportunity to meet him on multiple occasions. Our thoughts and prayers go to the families of all nine individuals who lost their lives in the January 26 helicopter crash.

Did you know Kobe was a visitor to our athletic training room in the Walsh Complex? Several years back, when the Lakers were in Dallas to play the Mavericks, Kobe was looking for access to cold/hot plunge tubs. Word got to Kobe and his team that TCU had some. Next thing you know, Kobe is en route to our campus after coordinating with Head Athletics Trainer David Gable on our staff. He utilized our hot and cold tubs and other training room facilities before accepting an offer to take a trip down the hall to see our football locker room. Not long thereafter, word spread that Kobe was in the house! We soon had student-athletes racing over to the Walsh Complex for a hopeful glimpse of the basketball legend. The next day, Kobe had 38 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Lakers to a victory. Pretty incredible! #RIPMamba

I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
Whether it's through email (AthleticsDirector@tcu.edu), Twitter (@JDonati_TCU) or Instagram (JDonati_TCU), please feel free to always share feedback on our athletics program, experiences at home events, or if we can ever be of assistance.

Go Frogs!