Notes from the AD's Office focuses on VIA, football season-opener
4/9/2014 2:50:00 PM | General
Welcome back, Wildcat fans, to another installment of the "Notes from the AD's Office," where we'll take an inside look at the ACU athletics department. This month we'll give you a brief update on the Vision in Action campaign, the 2014 football season-opener, two of our recent Southland Conference honorees, and we'll introduce you to a member of our athletics staff.
VISION IN ACTION CAMPAIGN UPDATE
ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert and I have have been traveling the state, meeting with prospective donors as we pursue the rest of the funding for the overall Vision in Action campaign. The overall response from those we have met with has been very positive, and we have made good progress toward securing the final $15 million for the athletics piece of the project.
If you have an interest in helping us with the project, you can give online here. Or if you want to learn more about the Vision in Action campaign, you can go here to learn more. If you know of anyone that you think we need to be talking to as part of this process, please let us know by emailing me at jbm97a@acu.edu.
BREAKING GROUND
As a reminder for those of you who have asked or are wondering, we won't break ground on either of the new stadium projects until have commitments for the full $30 million in projected costs. Assuming we can get that secured by the early part of the summer, we hope to break ground on the track / soccer stadium anywhere from mid-to-late summer with a target on breaking ground on the football stadium in early 2015.
Be sure to catch next month's edition of Notes from the ADs Office where we'll be able to provide much more in terms of construction timeline and other ways you can participate in the campaign.
WENTZ, MARQUEZ HONORED BY SOUTHLAND
Two of our basketball players – women's standout Renata Marquez and her men's team counterpart Parker Wentz – were honored recently by the Southland Conference for their work in the classroom.
Both were recently voted to their respective Southland Conference academic all-conference teams. Wentz was a unanimous first-team selection on the men's side, while Marquez was voted to the second team on the women's side.
A Lubbock native and biology/pre-med major with a 3.90 GPA, Wentz flourished in his role as team leader after two of ACU's top players were shelved near the start of Southland Conference play. And he responded in kind by finishing as the league's no. 14 scorer with 13.9 points per game and .491 field goal percentage, which is incredible considering a majority of his attempts were from 3-point range.
Wentz fired 178 3-pointers and made 79 for a .444 percentage. His 2.5 3-pointers made per game were tied for first in the league with Ledrick Eackles of McNeese State.
A Southland Conference honorable mention selection for her play on the floor, Marquez is a nursing major with a 3.30 grade-point average. In Marquez' first and only season as a NCAA DI student-athlete, the Conroe, Texas, native finished the regular season ranked among the Southland Conference's top-20 leaders in scoring (10th / 14.8 ppg), rebounding (19th / 5.9), assists (7th / 3.9) and steals (4th / 1.9).
ACU FOOTBALL TEAM TO PLAY ON ESPNU
We recently announced that our 2014 season-opening football game (at Georgia State on Wednesday, Aug. 27) will be played live on ESPNU at 6 p.m. from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. This will be ACU's third appearance on national television with all of them coming since 2006. ACU played on College Sports Television (CSTV) at West Texas A&M in 2006 and on CBS College Sports Network in August 2009 against Northwest Missouri State. Our game last October at New Mexico State was on ESPN3, which was a Webcast. This game will be ACU's first football game on an ESPN television network.
HELP US KEEP UP WITH YOU
We want to know what our letterwinners are doing with their lives after they finish competing for the Wildcats. So, please fill out this letterwinner information form that will be automatically emailed back to our media relations office as well as my executive assistant. We'd like to keep a record of you and your whereabouts. Thank you for filling out the information.
MEET THE ATHLETICS STAFF
Men's basketball assistant coach Brette Tanner just completed his first season on the ACU staff after spending the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin. In his final six seasons at SFA, the Lumberjacks have the best winning percentage of all 21 NCAA Division I programs in the state of Texas (138-49, .738 winning percentage). Prior to his arrival on staff, SFA had not won a conference championship or reached the NCAA Tournament in 21 seasons as a Division I program. But Tanner helped lead the Lumberjacks to a Southland Conference title in 2007-08, and SFA has won two more since, giving the program three league championships in the last seven years. He recruited several of the players on the 2013-14 team that won the regular-season and tournament titles and reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
COMPLIANCE CORNER
Q: What is an "extra benefit" and why do I need to know this term?
A: An extra benefit is anything that is provided to a student-athlete or a student-athlete's family and friends by an institutional staff member or a booster that is not available to the general student body or general public under the same terms. Providing anything considered an extra benefit to one of our student-athletes or their family/friends jeopardizes their eligibility to compete for ACU.
The following are some common examples of extra benefits:
• Provide cash, loans, or co-sign a loan on behalf of a student-athlete;
• Provide transportation or use of automobile;
• Provide use of telephone or credit card for personal reasons without charge;
• Provide free or reduced services (e.g. free oil change, car detailing, dry cleaning, laundry, etc.);
• Provide free lodging or rental property at a reduced rate;
• Provide free or reduced cost meals and drinks;
• Provide tickets to concerts, sporting events, and other entertainment activities; and
• Provide any other cards, gifts or presents, even for special occasions (e.g. birthday, Christmas, or other holidays).
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