Rocket Report with Bryan B. Blair - March 2023

3/27/2023 1:54:00 PM

By Bryan B. Blair, Vice President and Director of Athletics
March 27, 2023

Rocket Report with Bryan B. Blair

Dear Team Toledo,

It's always a great time to be a Rocket, but honestly, has it ever been better?!

With all the success we've experienced to date, you can make a very good argument that the 2022-23 school year is becoming the greatest ever in the storied history of Rocket Athletics. The list of achievements and school records established by our student-athletes is getting so long, it's getting hard to keep track of them all!

First, congratulations to the student-athletes and coaches on our women's and men's basketball programs. Wow! What an incredible run by both teams. The Rockets dominated the Mid-American Conference, becoming the first MAC school to win league titles, player of the year and coach of the year accolades for both men and women in the same season.

Significantly, by winning outright men's and women's MAC basketball titles, Toledo became the first FBS school ever to win conference titles in football, women's cross country, men's basketball and women's basketball in a single season. Think about that for a minute. No school in any of the 10 conferences that make up major college athletics has ever dominated their league the way our Rockets have this season.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: MAC CHAMPS AND AN NCAA TOURNEY VICTORY!
Major kudos to Head Coach Tricia Cullop and the Rockets for an amazing season! Women's Basketball team tied the school record with 29 wins, won the outright regular-season MAC title for the second consecutive season, captured the MAC Tournament crown and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996 by defeating the Big 12 Conference Champions and No. 5 seed Iowa State. Coach Cullop rightfully was named MAC Coach of the Year (for the fifth time in her career), while senior guard Quinesha Lockett earned MAC Player of the Year honors. In addition, the Rockets ranked 24th in the country in home attendance, averaging 4,178 fans per game, and have led the MAC in that category for an incredible 33 straight seasons!

MEN'S BASKETBALL: THREE CONSECUTIVE MAC TITLES
For the third consecutive season, Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk's team won the outright league title, something no current MAC school has ever done. Over that time, the Rockets won 74 games, including a school-record tying 27 wins this past season, and compiled an amazing 48-9 record in conference play! Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk was named MAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the past three years, while junior guard RayJ Dennis was named MAC Player of the Year. And just like the women, our men led the MAC in attendance, averaging 4,829 fans per contest!

MORE NATIONAL EXPOSURE FOR THE ROCKETS!
One of the great benefits of success is the tremendous national exposure it provides for our University. Every time our team competes on national television it allows us to promote the University, and in many ways the City of Toledo, to a new audience, and strengthens the pride that exists across our alumni base and greater communities. Our men's basketball team made eight national TV appearances, tied for the most ever in its history, while our women were on national TV a record three times. In our three tournament games alone (women's two NCAA games, men's NIT game vs. Michigan), more than 1.35 million viewers tuned in to watch the Rockets on ESPN2!

MISSION 23: A ROCKET BASKETBALL DOCUSERIES
Check out the third episode of the docuseries that chronicles the incredible seasons of our basketball teams! Since the onset, the goal was to provide a behind-the-scenes look at our men's and women's basketball teams as they pursed yet another, MAC Championship. After watching all three episodes, several times I might add, I would say that mission was accomplished in many ways. I want to give special recognition to our creative team for their excellent work. Look for a bonus episode coming out soon that covers the teams' experience at the MAC Tournament, as well as the women's run in the NCAA Tournament.

FOOTBALL: CHECK OUT THE SPRING SHOWCASE ON APRIL 8

Don't miss your chance to check out the football team at the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 8 at the Glass Bowl. Head Coach Jason Candle and the defending MAC champions will take the field at noon. Don't miss the youth football clinic and fan activities prior to the scrimmage. And don't forget to order your season tickets today!

MORE INFO
YOUTH CLINIC REGISTRATION

NEWEST ROCKET LEADER, NICOLE ALDERSON; BEST WISHES TO KELLY ANDREWS!
Please join me in welcoming our newest Rocket leader, Nicole Alderson. In her role as executive associate athletic director and chief operating officer, Nicole will be responsible for several key functions of our department. She will serve as the sport administrator for football, women's basketball, women's golf and women's swimming, while providing leadership in the department's efforts relating to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), strategic planning, business community engagement, gender equity, and strength & conditioning. Nicole will also serve as the department's senior woman administrator, a role held by Kelly Andrews, who is retiring this spring after 21 years of outstanding service for our program.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Kelly for everything she has done for Rocket Athletics for the past two decades. Kelly had a huge role in building our program into one of the very best in the Mid-American Conference. During my time with the Rockets, she has been an indispensable resource of institutional knowledge and perspective. We wish her all the best in her upcoming retirement!

BRAGGING RIGHTS….
I'd like to recognize these fantastic accomplishments from the past month:?

	Women's Track & Field: Lou Trois captured first place in the mile run at the 2023 MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 25, earning First-Team All-MAC honors.
	Women's Tennis: The program is 12-3, 3-0 in MAC play and has been ranked as high as No. 58, the highest ranking in its history.
	Men's Tennis: Pawit Sornlaksup continued his amazing winning streak and has now won 36 consecutive singles matches to lead our men's tennis team to a 11-5 record so far this season.
	Softball: Toledo knocked off No. 22 Northwestern on March 5, the first-ever victory over a Top 25 team in the history of that sport. First-year Head Coach Jessica Bracamonte's team is off to a solid 3-2 start in MAC play.
	Women's Golf: Yedam Lee captured her first individual title with a career-best five-under par at the Tchefuncta Invitational in Covington, La. on Feb. 27-28.
	Baseball: The Rockets swept Miami and won two of the three from Akron to get off to a 5-4 start in the MAC play in March.
	Men's Golf: Barend Botha won his first tournament as a Rocket by tying Brad Heaven's school record 12-under par with a career-low 204 at UNCW's Seahawk Intercollegiate on March 27.
	Men's Basketball: JT Shumate was named CSC First-Team Academic All-America for the second consecutive season, the first men's basketball player to earn back-to-back honors and just the third Rocket in any sport to ever do so. JT was joined by teammate AJ Edu on the CSC Academic All-District team.
	Swim & Dive: Madison Giglio, Kennedy Lovell and Lauren Kilgore were named to the CSC Academic All-District team.
	Women's Basketball: Jessica Cook, Nan Garcia, Sammi Mikonowicz and Sophia Wiard also were named CSC Academic All-District.

LET'S TURN THIS MOMENT INTO A MOVEMENT!

The unprecedented success we are enjoying right now should make us all proud to be Rockets. But we can never be satisfied. That's why I'm asking for your help to turn this moment into a movement by doing everything you can to help us reach even greater heights. There are so many ways you can help. Purchase your football and basketball season tickets. Donate to the Rocket Fund. Consider joining our 1923 Society, our new philanthropic leadership giving society. But most of all, spread the word about Rocket Athletics to your friends and neighbors.

With all of Team Toledo pulling together, there is no limit to what we can achieve!

Go Rockets!

Print Friendly Version

University of Toledo Athletics