ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 NC STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT Lee G. Fowler Director of Athletics

2 July 2, 2003 NC STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT ( ) 1-A. Overview (by Lee G. Fowler, Director of Athletics) I have often described this as one of the best years for Wolfpack athletics. A record 15 of our 22 sports programs either participated as a team or had individual participants in NCAA postseason competition. That is the most in the history of NC State. The list of achievements on pages 7-8 tells only part of the story of what has been accomplished. The record season and Gator Bowl win over Notre Dame was a huge step for football and our entire athletics program. Our men s basketball success was very important since it sustained our winning momentum. Against a backdrop of some adversity, baseball posted a year for our record books by advancing to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament. Men s golf and our men s and women s cross country and cheerleading teams maintained their place among the nation s elite. Women s gymnastics and women s golf earned NCAA postseason invitations, the second in three years for women s golf. Our primary mission continues to be the development and success academically, athletically, and personally of our more than 500 student-athletes. Our student-athletes had another excellent year academically. We continue to see graduation rates and grade point averages at about the same or higher rates than the general student body. Other academic achievements and awards have remained at the same high levels (see page 5). Many people made this outstanding year possible Chancellor Marye Anne Fox continues to provide invaluable leadership and support, while our coaches, staff and administrators have been effective in each of their areas. Despite a difficult economy, Bobby Purcell and the Wolfpack Club staff continue to do tremendous work with our

3 loyal WPC board and committee members and our more than 400 volunteer reps. And every one of our 15,000+ Wolfpackers is important to our success. I continue to be very optimistic about our future. The greatest reason for optimism is the positive attitude and revitalized spirit I see among our Wolfpack family. We simply could not sell out our football season tickets and set sales records three straight years unless our Wolfpackers and fans felt positive and excited about our program s future. We could not have built a $28 million Murphy Football Center without that positive outlook. And we could not be nearing completion of the Doak Field renovation and Wolfpack Tennis Complex and have taken major steps toward our goal of facilities excellence for every sport unless our constituents were positive toward NC State athletics. I sense a tremendous enthusiasm as our coaches and I have met with Wolfpackers around the state and nation this spring. Our supporters have seen exciting progress in our program in recent years and have been willing to invest in our future. We have an ambitious vision, to see every one of our teams in the top 25 and among the elite in the ACC. But it s a vision we can achieve with year by year improvement and continuing external support. 2. Facilities Enhancement Plan (A Compact Initiative) The department has embarked on a comprehensive Facilities Enhancement Plan through the next 3-4 years at an estimated cost of $100 million, which will improve virtually all of our athletics facilities. 2-A. The Two Tracks of the Facilities Plan The first track includes the three phases of the Carter-Finley Stadium Expansion: Phase I, South End Zone Seating, Practice Fields, and Football Center $55 million; 2

4 Phase II, Press Box Renovation/Expansion $28 million; and Phase III, North End Zone Development $20 million (beyond the 3-5 year planning horizon). The second track includes the enhancement and development of a group of other major athletics facilities: Case Athletics Center-Weisiger Brown Bldg.-Reynolds Coliseum/$6.5 million; Baseball Field-Tennis Complex/$6.0 million; Soccer-Track- Softball Complex/$5.0 million. 2-B. Facilities Development Progress in the Year 1. Murphy Football Center The $28 million Murphy Football Center was completed in March 2003 and was approximately $2 million under budget. It is the finest such operations center in America serving student-athletes and the coaching and support staff and has already become a major public relations asset to the university. The move of all football coaches and related support staff was completed on schedule in March Weisiger Brown Athletics Center Renovations are in process in preparation for coaches and administrative staff to begin a phased move to W-B in late summer, A regulation basketball court (with a new floor) to be used for men s basketball and other sports as available, has been completed (5/03) and is operational. It is one of the finest such facilities in the country in terms of quality. 3. Carter-Finley Stadium Press Box Renovation Progress has been made on the planning and design of the football press box and construction is expected to start soon after the conclusion of the 2003 football season. 4. Doak Field is nearing completion of it s $5 million renovation with a target completion date of October

5 5. The Wolfpack Tennis Complex is scheduled for completion in October Reynolds Coliseum renovations plans are in process. 7. Track-Soccer-Softball complex: Design and development progress continues on the facility scheduled to be completed in A. Gender Equity (A Compact Initiative) 1. Softball. In the spring of 2002, fast pitch softball was reestablished as an intercollegiate sport beginning with the hiring of a head coach and one assistant coach. A second assistant coach was hired July 1, Planning is underway for the softball team to begin play in the fall of This will result in an increase in women s scholarships by 12 and an increase in participation by 15 women student-athletes. A new softball facility is also planned for completion in Facilities for women s sports are being built and expanded. Women s tennis (along with men s tennis) will move into a new Wolfpack Tennis Complex in October The complex will have four indoor courts, coach s offices, locker rooms, training rooms and team meeting rooms. 3. Construction of new locker rooms will be completed in August 2003 for the men s and women s swimming and diving teams. 4. The rifle team was converted to co-ed in 2002 and funding for women s scholarships, coaches salaries, recruiting, and team travel were increased substantially. 5. Recruiting budgets for women s sports are also being increased. The Gender Equity Committee surveyed all coaches of women s teams. Coaches were asked to provide requests for increases in their respective recruiting budgets as needed. As a result, the athletics director has approved a total increase of approximately $67,000 in women s sports recruiting budgets, to be funded over the next two years. 4

6 6-B. Academic Achievements 2003 Spring Semester * The 2003 NCAA Graduation report that will be released in July 2003 will show the student-athlete grad rate exactly the same as the student body (64%) * 2 ACC Postgraduate Scholarship Winners (for the past seven years 20 out of 23 nominees have won the prestigious award). * 2 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Winners * 3 Academic Americans * 1 Academic All American team with distinction (women's cross country) * 301 Scholar athletes recognized at the Caterpillar Scholar Athlete banquet in April The athletics department continues to make a significant financial commitment to the academic lives of our student athletes (the budget for the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes budget is nearing $900,000 annually and funding by the athletics department for ASPSA has grown significantly in recent years. 7-A. Financial Position The athletics department continues to achieve operating budget surpluses. The budget for was $28.5 million. The department also continues to meet its reserve requirements for facilities and operations. The budget for is expected to grow to approximately $30 million. 8-A. Ticket Revenue Ticket revenue continues very strong. Football: A second straight sell-out of football season ticket inventory was achieved. Football is expected to exceed record levels of 2002 with sales currently ahead of last year s pace. Men s Basketball: Revenue decreased from record levels, but is expected to rebound in with a veteran team returning following a second straight NCAA appearance. 5

7 TICKET REVENUE BY SPORT (INCLUDES SEASON AND SINGLE GAMES) FOOTBALL # Home Games 5+1 Char) # Season Tickets 23,102 25,425 30,500 31,500 Ticket Revenue $4,377,000 $4,304,000 $5,200,000 $5,515,000 Excludes: BCA Bowl $1,150,000 MEN S BASKETBALL # Home Games 17 (all reg season) 15+2 exh 15+2 exh 15+2 exh # Season Tickets 13,212 14,115 12,288 13,053 Ticket Revenue $4,300,000 $4,175,000 $4,300,000 $4,620,000 Excludes: 2 CoSIDA 3 BCA 1 Reynolds $630,000 $892,000 9-A. Fund Raising (Wolfpack Club) Despite a difficult economy and stock market, our fund raising results continue to be very strong. Annual giving has been maintained, which is impressive given that we are concurrently conducting capital campaigns of more than $55 million. The $50 million Goal Line Drive has almost reached it s goal, and Batter Up has surpassed its goal. An increase of 13% in total giving was achieved in 2002 (ended 12/31/02) over the 2001 giving year. Wolfpack Club Fund Raising Results ($Millions) Annual Giving $6.9 $7.7 $6.8 $6.95 No. of Donors 13,308 14,898 16,487 15,522 Capital Giving $8.2 $4.1 $6.0 $6.91 Capital Campaign Pledges vs. Goals (as of 6/30/03) Advantage Wolfpack (Tennis) Goal: $1.5 million Actual: $1.1 Batter Up (Baseball) Goal: $2.6 million Actual: $2.8 Goal Line Drive Goal: $50 million Actual: $47.8 Note: The Wolfpack Club has set $8 million as the goal for the annual scholarship fund for the 2003 giving year ending 12/31/03. 6

8 Press Box Project Progress The $28 million press box renovation is well underway. The Wolfpack Club has contracted Binswanger Company (a real estate developer, Charlotte, N.C.) and progress has been made on design, a financing plan and securing bids for construction. The press box will be financed with revenue from hospitality suites and club seating. 10-A. Competitive Achievements NC State teams continue to make excellent progress, particularly the flagship sports of football and men s basketball, which fund a major portion of the departmental budget. A record 15 of our 22 sports programs either participated as a team or had individual participants in NCAA postseason competition the most in the history of NC State. Note: The athletics director has extended the contract of coach Chuck Amato and is currently completing extensions for coaches Herb Sendek and Kay Yow. The following NC State teams reached postseason competition and/or finished among the nation s top 25. a. Football had a record year with 11 wins and a victory over Notre Dame in the New Year s Day Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. The game was viewed by more than 10 million people on NBC-TV. Football finished ranked #11 in the nation and is a preseason top 10 selection for b. Men s basketball earned an NCAA Tournament invitation for the second consecutive year and is expected to field another strong team this season. They posted a 9-7 winning record in the ACC for the second consecutive year. c. Women s gymnastics, men s and women s cross country, and men s and women s golf all earned invitations to NCAA post season championship tournaments. d. Cheerleading finished No. 8 in the national cheerleading competition. 7

9 e. Baseball was ranked in the nation s top 15 for most of the season and received an NCAA Tournament bid. The Pack won their NCAA regional tournament and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional Tournament in Miami, Fla. NC State finished the season with a final ranking of No. 12 in the nation 11-A. Special Honors/Activities/Reviews 11-A.1. Elliott Avent, head men s baseball coach was named the ACC Baseball Coach of the Year and National Coch of the Year. * Kay Yow, head women s basketball coach, was inducted into the elite Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 22, 2003 * Rollie Geiger was named ACC Men s and Women s Cross Country Coach of the Year. 11-A.2. NC State s athletics department hosted two NCAA Tournaments this year the Women s NCAA Eastern Regional Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament (in Wilson, N.C.). 11-A.3. The department is conducting an NCAA Certification Self-Study, which was initiated in 2003 and will conclude with a visit by the NCAA Peer Review team in April The NCAA Self-Study is required every 10 years. Dr. Tom Stafford and Eileen Goldgeier were appointed by Chancellor Marye Anne Fox to serve as co-chairs of the Steering Committee. Subcommittees have also been appointed by the Chancellor and have been actively working since January A-4. Issues Expansion of the ACC: The ACC reached an agreement June 30, 2003 to add the University of Miami and Virginia Tech to the conference. Competition is to begin with the season. -End- 8