Wildcat fans,

What a great year we’ve enjoyed in 2016-17 in our final transition from NCAA Division II to Division I affiliation. Just a few more weeks until we turn in our annual report and then wait for the NCAA’s vote in August, when we expect to become full-fledged members of Division I, eligible in 2017-18 for all Southland Conference and NCAA postseason tournaments.

We’ve had historic seasons in two sports as the women’s basketball team won the program’s first NCAA Division I postseason tournament game with a victory over Oklahoma State in the Women’s NIT and the men’s tennis team captured the program’s first conference title at the NCAA Division I level.

Our softball team finished second in the Southland Conference, and we’ll find out Sunday night if we have earned a spot in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC), a first-year tournament that will be the equivalent of basketball’s WNIT. Freshman pitcher Sidney Holman led the Southland in wins with 20, earning conference Freshman of the Year honors and becoming ACU’s first 20-game winner since 2009.

Those are just a few of this year’s success stories as we get ready for summer break and a little bit of down time before we get going again in August.

Off the field and court of competition, we’ve enjoyed tremendous growth as well with the development of the Wildcat Club, which has significantly increased our fundraising efforts. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place this week when we signed a 10-year agreement with IMG for that company to be the exclusive multimedia rights partner of ACU Athletics.

The contract, which begins July 1 and runs through the 2025-26 season, will more than double our corporate sponsorship revenue annually. This is a huge step forward for us in our Division I transition and will help us even further in leveling the playing field with our Southland competition as it pertains to revenue generation.

We join an elite group of more than 80 colleges and universities associated with IMG, including these six universities in the Lone Star State: Baylor, Houston, Rice, TCU, Texas and UTEP.

In just the last two years, we’ve aligned ACU Athletics with some of the biggest brands and most reputable companies in intercollegiate athletics – Nike, IMG, HKS, FieldTurf and Daktronics to name a few – and we believe that will strengthen our position in the market and help us in fundraising and recruiting efforts. We’re thrilled to be part of the IMG family and look forward to a great partnership!

Great season for softball 

As mentioned previously, head softball coach Bobby Reeves and his team had a terrific season and are now waiting to hear if they’ll be invited to the NISC Postseason Tournament. The Wildcats finished 32-20 overall in the regular season and swept Stephen F. Austin last weekend in Abilene to finish 20-7 and in second place in the Southland.

Aside from Holman being voted Freshman of the Year, she was among four players voted first team all-conference: shortstop Peyton Hedrick, second baseman Holly Neese and centerfielder Taylor Brown.

Now in his seventh season as the Wildcats’ head coach, Bobby’s overall record is 179-173 with ACU, and our program is on a definite upswing with an excellent group of young players and solid recruiting classes lined up for the next two seasons. Based on that success and the promise of 2018 and beyond, I’m excited to announce a multi-year contract extension for Bobby to remain our head coach!

Stellar tennis seasons

The men’s tennis team finished 17-9 overall and 4-1 in the Southland, earning a regular-season co-championship with Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Hutton Jones earned league Coach of the Year honors and Jonathan Sheehy was voted conference Freshman of the Year, following in the footsteps of his brother, Joshua, who won the same award last season.

The team concluded its season at the prestigious Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, where it won all four men's and women's singles and doubles titles.

On the women’s side, ACU went 17-6 overall and 8-3 in the Southland, finishing tied for second in the league along with Lamar and Central Arkansas. Juniors Lucile Pothier and Whitney Williams were voted first team all-Southland at No. 1 doubles after going 7-0. Williams won all 10 of her league doubles matches as she also went 3-0 alongside senior Erin Walker.

Like the men's team, The Ojai singles and doubles championships in California were all-Wildcat affairs. Pothier and Williams beat Walker and Sarah Eleanor Adams for the doubles crown, and Pothier won the singles title over Williams.

In his 20 seasons as the Wildcats’ head coach, Jones has a remarkable combined record of 852-329 (.721 winning percentage) and runs a fine program with players who exemplify excellence on and off the court.

Wildcat Club renewals

Current members of the ACU Wildcat Club should be receiving renewal notices in the mail next week as we begin looking toward the 2017-18 season. Anyone who contributes $100 or more annually to any area within ACU Athletics will automatically become a member of the Wildcat Club and receive exclusive member benefits.

Donations made to the Wildcat Club through May 31, 2017, will count toward each member’s Wildcat Loyalty Points, which will determine priority for football season ticket seating for the 2017 season, the first in Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.

Membership in the Wildcat Club can be renewed on an annual basis and all gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by IRS regulations. Besides renewing through the mail, those interested in renewing online can visit acuwildcatclub.com and click on the “Login” tab at the top right of the web page. If you have never logged in previously, please click “Forgot your Password?” and follow the prompts. For questions about renewals or to make your donation over the phone, please call 325-674-2323.

Football season ticket info

The priority deadline for Wildcat Club donations is May 31. As of that date, Wildcat Loyalty Points will be calculated to create the priority order for selecting seat locations for football season tickets. We will make calls based on this priority starting June 1. This list includes Wildcat Club members, stadium donors, season ticket deposit purchasers and other University VIPs. Once all the calls are made, there will be a See Your Seat event later in June, where season ticket purchasers can confirm or relocate their season tickets. All available season tickets from that point will be open to the general public June 26.

Between now and May 31, please make your gift to the Wildcat Club and increase your priority. We will be releasing season ticket pricing and donation information to the general public soon.

Spring sports banquet wrap-up

We had a great night May 1 as we honored the best of the 2016-17 school year at the Student-Athlete Banquet, where women’s basketball standout Suzzy Dimba (pictured, No. 23) and football’s all-conference performer, Sam Denmark (pictured, No. 34), were honored as winners of the Paul Goad Award, signifying the top female and male athletes of the year, respectively.

Suzzy appeared on stage a second time with her senior classmates – Lizzy Dimba, Alexis Mason and Sydney Shelstead – to receive the coveted Horizon Award, which has been sporadically presented to ACU’s marquee student-athletes over the past decade.

The Horizon Award is given to those whose single-season efforts result in noteworthy career achievements, and in 2008, its first recipients were cross country / track and field All-America honoree Nicodemus Naimadu and NFL draft pick Bernard Scott. Since then the award has only been presented four times with the most recent winner being soccer player Andrea Carpenter in 2014.

Numerous other awards were handed out that night, and you can read the entire story about those honors here.

Celebrating our 2017 graduates

Friday afternoon, ACU Athletics will host its annual ceremony honoring our graduates, and we’ll be recognizing 40 student-athletes who will be graduating Saturday:

• Baseball – Alex Copeland (liberal studies), Collin Dudley (liberal studies), Mack Morgan (marketing)
• Football – D.J. Arnold (kinesiology), Quinton Baker (political science / criminal justice), Hayden Brodowsky (political science), De’Andre Brown (kinesiology), Adrian Duncan (kinesiology), Nik Grau (information systems), Richard Griffin III (sociology), Reese Gwin (journalism), Riley Mayfield (accounting and finance), Hayden Wall (kinesiology)
• Men’s Golf – Ryan Beatty (management), Robert Johnson (kinesiology), Hunter Rawls (financial management), Brandon Stites (accounting)
• Men’s Tennis – Nico Agritelley (management)
• Men’s Track and Field – Rosen Daniel (sociology), DeAndre McBride (sociology), Sterlen Paul (kinesiology), Reid Rivers (vocational ministry)
• Softball – Taylor Brown (kinesiology), Kaleigh Singleton (communication)
• Volleyball – Lexi Mercier (social work), Stephanie Schoelman (marketing), Dorothy Swanson (nursing)
• Women’s Basketball – Sierra Allen (child and family services), Sydney Shelstead (engineering), Lizzy Dimba (management), Suzzy Dimba (management), Alexis Mason (family studies)
• Women’s Track and Field – Chartia Hurt (sociology), Nicole Kass (accounting), McKenzie Mascorro (nursing), Taylor Woods (management)
• Women’s Soccer – Kelsey Dombrowski (biology), Alyssa Gerner (teaching), Kelsie Roberts (biochemistry), Leslie Snider (pre-physical therapy), Alli Spivey (liberal studies), Natalie Throneberry (kinesiology)

Congratulations to each of these outstanding student-athletes; we are extremely proud of each of you!

Go Wildcats!

Lee De León
Director of Athletics
Abilene Christian University