From the Desk of #ADJD
5/9/2019 3:00:00 PM | General
Dear Horned Frogs Fans:
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATES
As you might know, one of my favorite days of the year is graduation. There's always something special about seeing our student-athletes in a cap and gown. We'll have 51 graduating Saturday. A fun tradition for us is a stoling ceremony and reception the day before commencement. Each individual receives a student-athlete stole. We're always proud of our student-athletes and especially when we see them earn their degree.
OUR NEWEST BIG 12 CHAMPION
Congrats to Hayden Springer from our men's golf program on winning the Big 12 Championship! The senior from Trophy Club, Texas, finished with an 8-under-par 202. His victory in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., earned him an exemption to play in the PGA Tour's A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier from September 9-15. Hayden led us to a very strong team showing. We finished second, behind only No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State. In addition to Hayden, David Ravetto earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Tournament Team. David tied for third at 6-under 204, just two strokes behind Hayden.
A NIGHT WITH LT AT TCU
LaDainian Tomlinson has helped ensure the future success of our student-athletes by partnering with TCU in the creation of The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund. I firmly believe that we have the ability to be a national leader in this area and am committed to the continued growth of this department and programming. We have a few spots available for our May 16 inaugural "A Night with LT at TCU" in the Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom. This event will benefit TCU's Student-Athlete Development Endowment and the Tomlinson Touching Lives Foundation. Even if you cannot attend the dinner and auction, you can still show your support for the event and The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund with a gift through the TCU Frog Club at frogclub@tcu.edu or 817-257-7700.
"WE ARE RIFF RAM"
We value your feedback, and we heard you loud and clear regarding what you want the 2019 version of the Riff Ram video to look like. I'm excited to announce that everyone will have a chance to be featured in the Riff Ram video for the upcoming football season! More information will be announced shortly. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.
COODY AND COACHES CLASSIC RECAP
What a day at our 22nd-annual Coody & Coaches Classic at Texas Star Golf Club! This popular event honors our 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody and provides scholarship support for more than 500 student-athletes at TCU. We appreciate the 200-plus participants and all our coaches who were in attendance, as well as our friends at Sodexo for being the presenting sponsor for the fifth straight year.
TCU COACHES NIGHTS
We began our annual TCU Coaches Nights on Monday in Houston with Eric Bell (soccer), Jill Kramer (volleyball), Ryan Miller (men's basketball), Karen Monez (rifle) and Gary Patterson (football) present. Coach Patterson performed a mini-concert as he sang and played the guitar for everyone in attendance to kick off a fun evening for us all. Please mark your calendar for upcoming events in Midland (May 10), Dallas (May 20), Austin (June 4) and Kansas City (June 6). CLICK HERE for more information or contact the TCU Frog Club at frogclub@tcu.edu or 817-257-7700. We'd love to see you there!
FOOTBALL SEASON TICKET AND PARKING UPGRADES
On Monday, we began football season ticket and parking upgrades for the 2019 season and to date we have upgraded over 2,000 season tickets. All of you should have received an email last Friday with your specific selection date and time, based on priority points ranking, to log-in online. New sales will begin May 16 for those who have already reached out to us and are on a waiting list. We'll then open it up to everyone on May 20.
INCREDIBLE SEASONS HONORED
On Sunday, we hosted our Annual TCU Athletics Awards Banquet Cinco De Mayo style for our nominees and recipients of this year's awards. Please join me in congratulating the following recipients who were recognized that day:
Male Breakout Student-Athlete of the Year: Brendan Barry, swimming and diving
Female Breakout Student-Athlete of the Year: Messiah Bright, soccer
Male Newcomer of the Year: Jake Guenther, baseball
Female Newcomer of the Year: élan McCall, volleyball
William H. Koehler Achievement Award: Julius Lewis, football
Hal Harbuck Community Service Award: Maddie Beal, beach volleyball
Pillar of Purple Award: Brendan Barry, swimming and diving, and Kianna Ray, women's basketball
Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award: Amanda Key, swimming and diving; Laska Anderson, equestrian; Nate Guyton, football; Molly Hamel, cross country/track and field
Dutch Meyer Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Alex Rybakov, tennis
Dutch Meyer Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Laska Anderson, equestrian
Pop Boone Male Athlete of the Year: Alex Rybakov, tennis
Pop Boone Female Athlete of the Year: Liz Marsh, rifle
Chancellor's Award: Rachel Garner, rifle
MORE STUDENT-ATHLETE RECOGNITION
Each week, we recognize departmental Student-Athletes of the Week. Please see below for our recipients last month:
April 2 – Du Mapaya (men's track and field) and Amy Okonkwo (women's basketball)
April 9 – Alex Rybakov (men's tennis) and Destiny Longmire (women's track and field)
April 16 – Alastair Gray (men's tennis) and Avery Arellano and Hailey Brockett (beach volleyball)
April 23 – Derrick Mokaleng (men's track and field) and Natalia DeVencenty (equestrian)
April 30 – Du Mapaya (men's track and field) and Hayden Springer (men's golf)
Additionally, our April Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Month were Big 12 champion Hayden Springer (golf) and Carly Lombard (equestrian).
On the conference and national front, Alex Rybakov was named the Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Year with Ellie Douglas a unanimous selection as the Big 12 Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year. Speaking of freshmen, women's golfer Sabrina Iqbal quailed for the 2019 U.S. Women's Open. Equestrian's Natalia DeVencenty was named the Most Outstanding Performer in Horsemanship as we finished just short of a national championship, being edged in a tiebreaker by Georgia.
NFL DRAFT
It was great to see three of our student-athletes hear their name called at the 2019 NFL Draft. Congrats to L.J. Collier (Seattle Seahawks), Ben Banogu (Indianapolis Colts) and Ty Summers (Green Bay Packers)! L.J. became our 13th first-rounder, including four in the last 10 seasons. Ben gave us two picks in the first 49 selections when he went in the second round. Ty was taken in the seventh round. In addition to their great work in a Horned Frogs uniform on the playing field, they also got it done in the classroom as all three earned their degree.
POSTSEASON TIME
One of the more impressive streaks I've been around is with our men's golf program. We're talking 30 straight years in the postseason and all under the same head coach in Bill Montigel. We'll begin NCAA Regional play Monday in Austin. Our women's golf program has its own postseason run that makes us proud. Under head coach Angie Ravaioli-Larkin, we've earned an NCAA Regional appearance in 22 of the last 24 seasons. We appreciate everyone who made their way to the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center last weekend as we hosted the NCAA Men's Tennis first and second rounds and had victories over Harvard and Arizona State. Head Coach David Roditi's squad is now one of just seven programs nationally to reach the Sweet 16 or better in each of the last five seasons. We're off to Starkville to face Mississippi State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
NAME CHANGE
IMG has been a longtime phenomenal partner of TCU, handling all sponsorship sales and multi-media rights for us. The company recently went through a merger and rebranding with a name change. They are now Horned Frogs Sports Properties, while our radio broadcasts will be under the title of Horned Frogs Sports Network.
FIST BUMP
This month's Fist Bump goes to Drew Dennison, our director of athletics video production. We like to say, "once a Frog, always a Frog." Drew took that to heart when it came to one of his former staff members. Luke Anderson was an athletics video producer/editor for us, before leaving several months ago for a position at Boston University which put him closer to his home. Due to a pipe bursting in his Boston apartment, Luke lost all of his material possessions. As a gesture of what we strive to be, Drew organized departmental contributions for a gift card to help Luke get back on his feet and replace some of the items he lost. It was an incredibly selfless move by Drew for a former employee, and we can't thank him enough for taking the initiative on this and setting an example for all of us to follow. Well done Drew!
DID YOU KNOW?
While our men's golf team was in competition at the Big 12 Championship in West Virginia, head coach Bill Montigel and his wife Margaret received a phone call that they became grandparents. Their daughter, Kelli, is a former women's golf student-athlete for us and new mom. Congrats to Bill and Margaret as well as Kelli and her husband Johnny!
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.
Go Frogs!
Jeremiah Donati, J.D.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATES
As you might know, one of my favorite days of the year is graduation. There's always something special about seeing our student-athletes in a cap and gown. We'll have 51 graduating Saturday. A fun tradition for us is a stoling ceremony and reception the day before commencement. Each individual receives a student-athlete stole. We're always proud of our student-athletes and especially when we see them earn their degree.
OUR NEWEST BIG 12 CHAMPION
Congrats to Hayden Springer from our men's golf program on winning the Big 12 Championship! The senior from Trophy Club, Texas, finished with an 8-under-par 202. His victory in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., earned him an exemption to play in the PGA Tour's A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier from September 9-15. Hayden led us to a very strong team showing. We finished second, behind only No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State. In addition to Hayden, David Ravetto earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Tournament Team. David tied for third at 6-under 204, just two strokes behind Hayden.
A NIGHT WITH LT AT TCU
LaDainian Tomlinson has helped ensure the future success of our student-athletes by partnering with TCU in the creation of The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund. I firmly believe that we have the ability to be a national leader in this area and am committed to the continued growth of this department and programming. We have a few spots available for our May 16 inaugural "A Night with LT at TCU" in the Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom. This event will benefit TCU's Student-Athlete Development Endowment and the Tomlinson Touching Lives Foundation. Even if you cannot attend the dinner and auction, you can still show your support for the event and The Tomlinson Student-Athlete Development Endowment Fund with a gift through the TCU Frog Club at frogclub@tcu.edu or 817-257-7700.
"WE ARE RIFF RAM"
We value your feedback, and we heard you loud and clear regarding what you want the 2019 version of the Riff Ram video to look like. I'm excited to announce that everyone will have a chance to be featured in the Riff Ram video for the upcoming football season! More information will be announced shortly. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.
COODY AND COACHES CLASSIC RECAP
What a day at our 22nd-annual Coody & Coaches Classic at Texas Star Golf Club! This popular event honors our 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody and provides scholarship support for more than 500 student-athletes at TCU. We appreciate the 200-plus participants and all our coaches who were in attendance, as well as our friends at Sodexo for being the presenting sponsor for the fifth straight year.
TCU COACHES NIGHTS
We began our annual TCU Coaches Nights on Monday in Houston with Eric Bell (soccer), Jill Kramer (volleyball), Ryan Miller (men's basketball), Karen Monez (rifle) and Gary Patterson (football) present. Coach Patterson performed a mini-concert as he sang and played the guitar for everyone in attendance to kick off a fun evening for us all. Please mark your calendar for upcoming events in Midland (May 10), Dallas (May 20), Austin (June 4) and Kansas City (June 6). CLICK HERE for more information or contact the TCU Frog Club at frogclub@tcu.edu or 817-257-7700. We'd love to see you there!
FOOTBALL SEASON TICKET AND PARKING UPGRADES
On Monday, we began football season ticket and parking upgrades for the 2019 season and to date we have upgraded over 2,000 season tickets. All of you should have received an email last Friday with your specific selection date and time, based on priority points ranking, to log-in online. New sales will begin May 16 for those who have already reached out to us and are on a waiting list. We'll then open it up to everyone on May 20.
INCREDIBLE SEASONS HONORED
On Sunday, we hosted our Annual TCU Athletics Awards Banquet Cinco De Mayo style for our nominees and recipients of this year's awards. Please join me in congratulating the following recipients who were recognized that day:
Male Breakout Student-Athlete of the Year: Brendan Barry, swimming and diving
Female Breakout Student-Athlete of the Year: Messiah Bright, soccer
Male Newcomer of the Year: Jake Guenther, baseball
Female Newcomer of the Year: élan McCall, volleyball
William H. Koehler Achievement Award: Julius Lewis, football
Hal Harbuck Community Service Award: Maddie Beal, beach volleyball
Pillar of Purple Award: Brendan Barry, swimming and diving, and Kianna Ray, women's basketball
Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award: Amanda Key, swimming and diving; Laska Anderson, equestrian; Nate Guyton, football; Molly Hamel, cross country/track and field
Dutch Meyer Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Alex Rybakov, tennis
Dutch Meyer Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Laska Anderson, equestrian
Pop Boone Male Athlete of the Year: Alex Rybakov, tennis
Pop Boone Female Athlete of the Year: Liz Marsh, rifle
Chancellor's Award: Rachel Garner, rifle
MORE STUDENT-ATHLETE RECOGNITION
Each week, we recognize departmental Student-Athletes of the Week. Please see below for our recipients last month:
April 2 – Du Mapaya (men's track and field) and Amy Okonkwo (women's basketball)
April 9 – Alex Rybakov (men's tennis) and Destiny Longmire (women's track and field)
April 16 – Alastair Gray (men's tennis) and Avery Arellano and Hailey Brockett (beach volleyball)
April 23 – Derrick Mokaleng (men's track and field) and Natalia DeVencenty (equestrian)
April 30 – Du Mapaya (men's track and field) and Hayden Springer (men's golf)
Additionally, our April Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Month were Big 12 champion Hayden Springer (golf) and Carly Lombard (equestrian).
On the conference and national front, Alex Rybakov was named the Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Year with Ellie Douglas a unanimous selection as the Big 12 Women's Tennis Freshman of the Year. Speaking of freshmen, women's golfer Sabrina Iqbal quailed for the 2019 U.S. Women's Open. Equestrian's Natalia DeVencenty was named the Most Outstanding Performer in Horsemanship as we finished just short of a national championship, being edged in a tiebreaker by Georgia.
NFL DRAFT
It was great to see three of our student-athletes hear their name called at the 2019 NFL Draft. Congrats to L.J. Collier (Seattle Seahawks), Ben Banogu (Indianapolis Colts) and Ty Summers (Green Bay Packers)! L.J. became our 13th first-rounder, including four in the last 10 seasons. Ben gave us two picks in the first 49 selections when he went in the second round. Ty was taken in the seventh round. In addition to their great work in a Horned Frogs uniform on the playing field, they also got it done in the classroom as all three earned their degree.
POSTSEASON TIME
One of the more impressive streaks I've been around is with our men's golf program. We're talking 30 straight years in the postseason and all under the same head coach in Bill Montigel. We'll begin NCAA Regional play Monday in Austin. Our women's golf program has its own postseason run that makes us proud. Under head coach Angie Ravaioli-Larkin, we've earned an NCAA Regional appearance in 22 of the last 24 seasons. We appreciate everyone who made their way to the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center last weekend as we hosted the NCAA Men's Tennis first and second rounds and had victories over Harvard and Arizona State. Head Coach David Roditi's squad is now one of just seven programs nationally to reach the Sweet 16 or better in each of the last five seasons. We're off to Starkville to face Mississippi State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
NAME CHANGE
IMG has been a longtime phenomenal partner of TCU, handling all sponsorship sales and multi-media rights for us. The company recently went through a merger and rebranding with a name change. They are now Horned Frogs Sports Properties, while our radio broadcasts will be under the title of Horned Frogs Sports Network.
FIST BUMP
This month's Fist Bump goes to Drew Dennison, our director of athletics video production. We like to say, "once a Frog, always a Frog." Drew took that to heart when it came to one of his former staff members. Luke Anderson was an athletics video producer/editor for us, before leaving several months ago for a position at Boston University which put him closer to his home. Due to a pipe bursting in his Boston apartment, Luke lost all of his material possessions. As a gesture of what we strive to be, Drew organized departmental contributions for a gift card to help Luke get back on his feet and replace some of the items he lost. It was an incredibly selfless move by Drew for a former employee, and we can't thank him enough for taking the initiative on this and setting an example for all of us to follow. Well done Drew!
DID YOU KNOW?
While our men's golf team was in competition at the Big 12 Championship in West Virginia, head coach Bill Montigel and his wife Margaret received a phone call that they became grandparents. Their daughter, Kelli, is a former women's golf student-athlete for us and new mom. Congrats to Bill and Margaret as well as Kelli and her husband Johnny!
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.
Go Frogs!
Jeremiah Donati, J.D.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
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