From The Desk of #ADJD
12/6/2019 10:01:00 AM | General
Dear Horned Frogs Fans:
SEE YOU TONIGHT AT DICKIES ARENA
We are very proud of our relationship with Dickies Arena. Many of you were likely at the George Strait concert and experienced first-hand Fort Worth's new world-class venue. It's an honor for us to play in the first basketball game in Dickies Arena tonight at 8 p.m. when we face USC. You might recall we played the Trojans last year at Staples Center in Los Angeles. We will have four buses of students headed to the game and look forward to an exciting and historic night in Dickies Arena.
Also, make sure to drop by Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena tomorrow as our women's basketball program, off to a 6-0 start, will host Auburn at 2 p.m. in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS HIT THE WHITE HOUSE
It was truly an honor to accompany our Head Coach Karen Monez, Assistant Coach Hannah Black and the TCU Rifle program to "NCAA Champions Day" at the White House in November. TCU Trustees Mark Johnson and Eddie Clark along with Senior Associate Athletics Director and rifle sport administrator Ross Bailey also made the trip. While in our nation's capital, it was great to spend time with Horned Frog and TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame member Roger Williams on Capitol Hill!
THANK YOU, FANS!
While I share in your disappointment that we fell short of expectations this season, I can't thank you enough for your support of our football program. It was just our third season in the past 22 to not reach a bowl game. However, I could not be more excited about our future. We have an unbelievable program under the leadership of Gary Patterson and, as you saw throughout the season on both sides of the ball, a very talented core of student-athletes who will return next fall. Next year will be Coach Patterson's 20th season as head coach, 125 years of TCU football and the opening of our Legends Club on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium. There is a lot to be excited about going forward.
SURVEY TIME
If you are a football season-ticket holder, keep an eye on your email inbox as we'll soon be sending a survey asking for feedback on your 2019 Gameday Experience. We strive to constantly improve the atmosphere and fan experience at Amon G. Carter Stadium, and your feedback is greatly appreciated.
BIG 12 NOW ON ESPN+
As a reminder, with the Big 12 Conference and ESPN expanding their existing agreement, our third-tier television rights will be switching next year from FOX Sports Southwest to the newly branded Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Several of our men's basketball games this season, beginning with road contests January 18 and 21 at Oklahoma and Texas Tech, respectively, and our January 29 home game versus Texas, will air on that platform this year. Also, next season's football home game with Prairie View A&M and potentially others as well will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
The creation of Big 12 Now on ESPN+ is indicative of the new digital trend in our industry. There is a monthly charge of $4.99. If you have little ones like me, you likely know Disney+ recently launched as well. There are options out there with Big 12 Now on ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu packaged together for just $12.99 each month. In addition to live games, we'll also have other TCU programming airing next year.
Personally, I'm a big fan of ESPN+ and I think you will be amazed as well if you haven't seen it already. I visit it frequently through the ESPN app to view other Big 12 content as well as games from across the country. For more information, please CLICK HERE.
RENEWAL TIME FOR OUR NATIONAL PASTTIME
Amazingly, Baseball season is just around the corner! Coach Schlossnagle and his staff have an incoming recruiting class ranked in the top 5 nationally by all major media outlets and a lot of returning talent. Please note that season-ticket renewals have started for the 2020 season with a January 10 deadline. First pitch at Lupton Stadium is 2 months away!
CONGRATULATIONS SOCCER!
A special shout out to Head Coach Eric Bell and our soccer program on earning its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. We are now one of just 20 programs in the country to be in the postseason in each of the last four years.
Volleyball has continued its season in the NIVC. We defeated Miami (Ohio) in a first-round match Thursday and will play at Bowling Green tonight at 6 p.m.
RHODES SCHOLAR FINALIST
Equestrian's Laska Anderson has defined student-athlete during her time at TCU. She has represented our university incredibly well in the classroom and in competition. Congrats to Laska on being TCU's first Rhodes Scholar finalist since football student-athlete Caylin Moore was selected as a recipient in 2017. Laska, a student in the John V. Roach Honors College, is a double major in history and English with a minor in writing in the AddRan College of Liberal Arts. Way to go, Laska!
MILESTONES
Congrats to head basketball coaches Jamie Dixon and Raegan Pebley on reaching milestones recently! Jamie became the 11th head coach all-time to record 400 career wins in 17 seasons when RJ Nembhard hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds to play to beat UC Irvine, 59-58, on November 21. Raegan recorded her 100th win at TCU with a 66-52 win at Army on November 26.
STUDENT-ATHLETE RECOGNITIONS
November was a great month for our student-athletes being recognized for their accomplishments.
We had 13 football student-athletes garner All-Big 12 honors, including first-team selections Ross Blacklock, Jeff Gladney, Trevon Moehrig, Jonathan Song and Garret Wallow. Jalen Reagor, at both wide receiver and return specialist, and Pro Wells were on the second team. Additionally, Ar'Darius Washington was voted the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. We also had Kellton Hollins named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
Soccer was represented by Messiah Bright and Yazmeen Ryan on the All-Midwest Region Team. Volleyball placed Katie Clark on the All-Big 12 Team with Julia Adams on the All-Rookie Team.
Equestrian had Izzy Baxter selected as the Big 12 Fences Rider of the Month, while Kathleen Harrigan was named the NCEA Standout Student-Athlete of the Month. Freshmen Jennie Park was named the November Big 12 Women's Golfer of the Month.
Internally, we recognize TCU Student-Athletes of the Week as well as Scholar-Athletes of the Month. Please see below for our November recipients:
November 6 – Emily Alvarado (soccer) and Stephanie Grundsoee (rifle)
November 13 – Julia Adams (volleyball) and Izzy Ashdown (swimming and diving)
November 20 – Taye Barber (football), Max Duggan (football) and Kristen Hemphill (rifle)
November 27 – élan McCall (volleyball), Janis Silins (swimming and diving), Piotr Sadlowski (swimming and diving) and Ar'Darius Washington (football)
Our November Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Month were Kristen Hemphill (rifle) and Garret Wallow (football).
HOLIDAY CARDS
Our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, within our Student-Athlete Development Department, has selected its holiday season initiative. In conjunction with Fort Worth ISD, personal holiday cards from our student-athletes are being prepared for grades third through fifth covering four elementary schools in four different areas of Fort Worth. We are talking 1,000 children! Each of our more than 500 student-athletes are providing a handwritten note to each student with the intent being to encourage these children through the remainder of their year.
FIST BUMPS
We have a power-packed lineup of Fist Bump recipients this month.
Many of you know Sharon Ellman or likely recognize her as the one with the camera at just about all of our athletics events covering 21 sports. Sharon is an honorary Horned Frog! In an incredible act of kindness on her behalf the last two years, Sharon has donated her time during the holiday season to provide complimentary family photos for our athletics staff. We can't thank you enough, Sharon!
Judy Cartmill is TCU's longtime mailing services coordinator in our campus Post Office. She has been a loyal friend of our department and recently went above and beyond the call of duty. We had a men's golfer headed out of town for a tournament. His team uniform was sent in a package to him. It was shown as being delivered, yet was missing. Late on a Friday night, Judy was reached via text. She then followed up early the next morning to ensure the package was found and our student-athlete would have his uniform just in time for the trip.
Finally, we have our internal quartet of Frog Club Development Associate Zaina Atyani, Compliance Assistant Stephanie Key, Baseball Director of Operations Meredith Montgomery and Assistant Athletics Director of Development Rudy Weiser. To fight local hunger, they coordinated our annual Feed The Fort/Spread The Love in collecting plastic jars of peanut butter and jelly to donate to the Tarrant Area Food Bank. All in all, these individuals led the department in collecting 1,800 total jars. Thank you, guys!
DID YOU KNOW?
Over 450,000 man hours have been worked thus far on our Amon G. Carter Stadium east side expansion project, and we are nearing completion. Scaffolding removal is underway, and the exterior on the bowl side is taking shape. Some items in the interior are being inspected and punch lists created. The first suite and club seating are due to finish by the end of this month.
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.
On behalf of the entire department and over 500 TCU student-athletes, we wish you a safe and pleasant holiday season. See you in 2020!
Go Frogs!
Jeremiah Donati, J.D.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
SEE YOU TONIGHT AT DICKIES ARENA
We are very proud of our relationship with Dickies Arena. Many of you were likely at the George Strait concert and experienced first-hand Fort Worth's new world-class venue. It's an honor for us to play in the first basketball game in Dickies Arena tonight at 8 p.m. when we face USC. You might recall we played the Trojans last year at Staples Center in Los Angeles. We will have four buses of students headed to the game and look forward to an exciting and historic night in Dickies Arena.
Also, make sure to drop by Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena tomorrow as our women's basketball program, off to a 6-0 start, will host Auburn at 2 p.m. in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS HIT THE WHITE HOUSE
It was truly an honor to accompany our Head Coach Karen Monez, Assistant Coach Hannah Black and the TCU Rifle program to "NCAA Champions Day" at the White House in November. TCU Trustees Mark Johnson and Eddie Clark along with Senior Associate Athletics Director and rifle sport administrator Ross Bailey also made the trip. While in our nation's capital, it was great to spend time with Horned Frog and TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame member Roger Williams on Capitol Hill!
THANK YOU, FANS!
While I share in your disappointment that we fell short of expectations this season, I can't thank you enough for your support of our football program. It was just our third season in the past 22 to not reach a bowl game. However, I could not be more excited about our future. We have an unbelievable program under the leadership of Gary Patterson and, as you saw throughout the season on both sides of the ball, a very talented core of student-athletes who will return next fall. Next year will be Coach Patterson's 20th season as head coach, 125 years of TCU football and the opening of our Legends Club on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium. There is a lot to be excited about going forward.
SURVEY TIME
If you are a football season-ticket holder, keep an eye on your email inbox as we'll soon be sending a survey asking for feedback on your 2019 Gameday Experience. We strive to constantly improve the atmosphere and fan experience at Amon G. Carter Stadium, and your feedback is greatly appreciated.
BIG 12 NOW ON ESPN+
As a reminder, with the Big 12 Conference and ESPN expanding their existing agreement, our third-tier television rights will be switching next year from FOX Sports Southwest to the newly branded Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Several of our men's basketball games this season, beginning with road contests January 18 and 21 at Oklahoma and Texas Tech, respectively, and our January 29 home game versus Texas, will air on that platform this year. Also, next season's football home game with Prairie View A&M and potentially others as well will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
The creation of Big 12 Now on ESPN+ is indicative of the new digital trend in our industry. There is a monthly charge of $4.99. If you have little ones like me, you likely know Disney+ recently launched as well. There are options out there with Big 12 Now on ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu packaged together for just $12.99 each month. In addition to live games, we'll also have other TCU programming airing next year.
Personally, I'm a big fan of ESPN+ and I think you will be amazed as well if you haven't seen it already. I visit it frequently through the ESPN app to view other Big 12 content as well as games from across the country. For more information, please CLICK HERE.
RENEWAL TIME FOR OUR NATIONAL PASTTIME
Amazingly, Baseball season is just around the corner! Coach Schlossnagle and his staff have an incoming recruiting class ranked in the top 5 nationally by all major media outlets and a lot of returning talent. Please note that season-ticket renewals have started for the 2020 season with a January 10 deadline. First pitch at Lupton Stadium is 2 months away!
CONGRATULATIONS SOCCER!
A special shout out to Head Coach Eric Bell and our soccer program on earning its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. We are now one of just 20 programs in the country to be in the postseason in each of the last four years.
Volleyball has continued its season in the NIVC. We defeated Miami (Ohio) in a first-round match Thursday and will play at Bowling Green tonight at 6 p.m.
RHODES SCHOLAR FINALIST
Equestrian's Laska Anderson has defined student-athlete during her time at TCU. She has represented our university incredibly well in the classroom and in competition. Congrats to Laska on being TCU's first Rhodes Scholar finalist since football student-athlete Caylin Moore was selected as a recipient in 2017. Laska, a student in the John V. Roach Honors College, is a double major in history and English with a minor in writing in the AddRan College of Liberal Arts. Way to go, Laska!
MILESTONES
Congrats to head basketball coaches Jamie Dixon and Raegan Pebley on reaching milestones recently! Jamie became the 11th head coach all-time to record 400 career wins in 17 seasons when RJ Nembhard hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds to play to beat UC Irvine, 59-58, on November 21. Raegan recorded her 100th win at TCU with a 66-52 win at Army on November 26.
STUDENT-ATHLETE RECOGNITIONS
November was a great month for our student-athletes being recognized for their accomplishments.
We had 13 football student-athletes garner All-Big 12 honors, including first-team selections Ross Blacklock, Jeff Gladney, Trevon Moehrig, Jonathan Song and Garret Wallow. Jalen Reagor, at both wide receiver and return specialist, and Pro Wells were on the second team. Additionally, Ar'Darius Washington was voted the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. We also had Kellton Hollins named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
Soccer was represented by Messiah Bright and Yazmeen Ryan on the All-Midwest Region Team. Volleyball placed Katie Clark on the All-Big 12 Team with Julia Adams on the All-Rookie Team.
Equestrian had Izzy Baxter selected as the Big 12 Fences Rider of the Month, while Kathleen Harrigan was named the NCEA Standout Student-Athlete of the Month. Freshmen Jennie Park was named the November Big 12 Women's Golfer of the Month.
Internally, we recognize TCU Student-Athletes of the Week as well as Scholar-Athletes of the Month. Please see below for our November recipients:
November 6 – Emily Alvarado (soccer) and Stephanie Grundsoee (rifle)
November 13 – Julia Adams (volleyball) and Izzy Ashdown (swimming and diving)
November 20 – Taye Barber (football), Max Duggan (football) and Kristen Hemphill (rifle)
November 27 – élan McCall (volleyball), Janis Silins (swimming and diving), Piotr Sadlowski (swimming and diving) and Ar'Darius Washington (football)
Our November Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Month were Kristen Hemphill (rifle) and Garret Wallow (football).
HOLIDAY CARDS
Our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, within our Student-Athlete Development Department, has selected its holiday season initiative. In conjunction with Fort Worth ISD, personal holiday cards from our student-athletes are being prepared for grades third through fifth covering four elementary schools in four different areas of Fort Worth. We are talking 1,000 children! Each of our more than 500 student-athletes are providing a handwritten note to each student with the intent being to encourage these children through the remainder of their year.
FIST BUMPS
We have a power-packed lineup of Fist Bump recipients this month.
Many of you know Sharon Ellman or likely recognize her as the one with the camera at just about all of our athletics events covering 21 sports. Sharon is an honorary Horned Frog! In an incredible act of kindness on her behalf the last two years, Sharon has donated her time during the holiday season to provide complimentary family photos for our athletics staff. We can't thank you enough, Sharon!
Judy Cartmill is TCU's longtime mailing services coordinator in our campus Post Office. She has been a loyal friend of our department and recently went above and beyond the call of duty. We had a men's golfer headed out of town for a tournament. His team uniform was sent in a package to him. It was shown as being delivered, yet was missing. Late on a Friday night, Judy was reached via text. She then followed up early the next morning to ensure the package was found and our student-athlete would have his uniform just in time for the trip.
Finally, we have our internal quartet of Frog Club Development Associate Zaina Atyani, Compliance Assistant Stephanie Key, Baseball Director of Operations Meredith Montgomery and Assistant Athletics Director of Development Rudy Weiser. To fight local hunger, they coordinated our annual Feed The Fort/Spread The Love in collecting plastic jars of peanut butter and jelly to donate to the Tarrant Area Food Bank. All in all, these individuals led the department in collecting 1,800 total jars. Thank you, guys!
DID YOU KNOW?
Over 450,000 man hours have been worked thus far on our Amon G. Carter Stadium east side expansion project, and we are nearing completion. Scaffolding removal is underway, and the exterior on the bowl side is taking shape. Some items in the interior are being inspected and punch lists created. The first suite and club seating are due to finish by the end of this month.
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.
On behalf of the entire department and over 500 TCU student-athletes, we wish you a safe and pleasant holiday season. See you in 2020!
Go Frogs!
Jeremiah Donati, J.D.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
TCU, Learfield Commit to Long-Term Partnership Extension
Tuesday, March 10
The Clover Frog is here!
Tuesday, February 24
Frogs in a Pod: Episode 1
Thursday, February 12
TCU ATH | National Girls and Women in Sports Day Highlights
Wednesday, February 04
