Rocket Report with Bryan B. Blair - March 2024
3/25/2024 1:33:00 PM | Athletics
Spring is here, and with it comes sunshine and excitement for all that lies ahead for Toledo Athletics!
By Bryan B. Blair, Vice President and Director of Athletics
March 26, 2024
Team Toledo,
Spring is here, and with it comes sunshine and excitement for all that lies ahead for Toledo Athletics!
The anticipation of the spring sports season, as well as the unprecedented success of our fall and winter sports, reminds me of my favorite sports quote by Nelson Mandela:
"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers."
Nothing can unify, amplify, and inspire our campus and the greater Toledo community like Rocket Athletics. For example, our football program played on national TV a school record 10 times this past season, topping last year's school record of nine. Each of those instances presents a four-hour national TV commercial to showcase the beauty of our campus, discuss the medical advances happening within our hospital, or showcase the brand-new downtown Metropark and breathtaking skyline! Here are a few more examples of the impact a successful, mission-driven athletics program can deliver:
Experience
- College athletics brings together athletes, students, alumni, and fans that help to celebrate our University and its mission.
- Experiencing athletics events can build a sense of belonging and engagement with the University that can aid the recruitment and retention of students.
Exposure
- Athletics plays a significant role in raising brand awareness and national visibility for our University and community, bringing a national audience to all that makes us special.
- There are numerous documented examples of athletics success leading to increased applications and subsequent enrollments.
Engagement
- Athletics is one of the primary ways that alumni and community members connect with the University of Toledo.
- Maintaining engagement like the kind provided by college athletics is vital for cultivating the philanthropic support that is essential for the growth and development of any university.
Economics
- Athletics drives considerable revenue to our campus and community.
- The impact of direct and indirect spending on Toledo athletic events and activities hosted in athletics facilities is substantial for the local economy.
So as we celebrate the amazing achievements of our student-athletes, keep in mind the bigger picture and what this brings to our University and our community. And guess what?! The best is yet to come!
With your help, we will build our already strong athletics program into a brand that is recognized in every corner of the country. Let’s Rise Together, and turn this moment into a movement!
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Our women’s basketball team won its third consecutive regular-season MAC Championship with a 17-1 league record! That makes Head Coach Tricia Cullop’s squad an incredible 52-4 in MAC play over the past three seasons, the second-highest number of conference wins in the country during that span! In the friendly confines of Savage Arena, our Rockets are 43-4 over the past three seasons (28-1 MAC), in front of packed crowds that are the envy of many SEC and Big Ten programs.
I would like to wish Coach Cullop and her team good luck when they travel to Washington State this Thursday to play the Cougars in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament! Following electrifying wins in Savage Arena over Cleveland State and St. John’s in the first two rounds of the WBIT, our Rockets will try to make it three straight victories and earn a berth into the WBIT Final Four in Indianapolis on April 1-3. Exciting to see us make an impact on the national stage!
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Our men’s basketball team won its fourth consecutive regular-season MAC Championship, something no current MAC program has ever done! Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk’s program is the model of consistency. Over the past four years, our men have a record of 94-37, and an even more dominating 62-13 MAC record, the most league wins of any Division I school in the country over that period, and are 34-4 in Savage Arena!
It's not too early to secure your Women’s and Men’s Basketball season tickets for next season. If you’re not already a season ticket member, you can go to UTRockets.com/tix to place your deposit for the 2024-25 season!
FOOTBALL
We’re excited for our 2024 football schedule that includes a Homecoming rematch of last year's MAC Championship Game vs. Miami on Oct. 5, as well as the Battle of I-75 vs. Bowling Green on Saturday, Oct. 26. This will be the first time the Battle of I-75 will be played on a Saturday in Toledo in six years, so we are looking forward to a packed Glass Bowl for this huge rivalry game!
We open the season with a home game ahead of the Labor Day weekend on Thursday, Aug. 29 vs. Duquesne, in what we are again calling “The Biggest Party in Toledo”. Please mark your calendars and plan to leave work early, as we will host a celebration like no other to kick off the college football season! You won’t want to miss the surprises we have up our sleeves!
Head Coach Jason Candle’s Rockets were 11-3 last year, and return six All-MAC players who will lead the team in their quest to make their third straight trip to the MAC Championship Game. You can get a preview of next year’s squad at our annual Spring Football Showcase on Saturday, April 6 at 12 noon at the Glass Bowl.
Secure your season tickets by placing a deposit today at UTRockets.com/fbtix or by calling or texting 419.530.GOLD (4653), or stop by the Rocket Ticket Office.
SPRING SPORTS
All of our spring sports are underway and looking to add MAC Championship hardware to their trophy cases. We hope you can join us and support our Rockets!
Our men’s and women’s tennis teams are both defending their MAC Championship titles and will host their respective MAC Tournaments in April. The men’s tournament will take place on April 20-21 while the women take the stage five days later, April 26-27.
Both teams are off to great starts this spring. Special recognition to our women’s team for lighting the UHall Tower with a 6-1 win over BG on Sunday!
Our women’s and men’s golf teams play a challenging schedule before teeing it up at their MAC Tournaments – the women on April 21-23 at Pinnacle Gold Club in Grove City, Ohio, and the men on April 26-28 at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind., where we will serve as tournament hosts.
Women’s Track & Field will be competing in 11 outdoor meets this spring before battling the league field at the MAC Championship Meet in DeKalb, Ill. on May 9-11.
Our baseball and softball seasons are well underway, with the baseball team opened up its home slate by winning its series with Ball State this past weekend, including a dramatic extra-inning walk-off victory in Game Two. Softball lit the UHall Tower blue with a series sweep of BG in the Battle of I-75, including the first UT perfect game on record in the series finale! Softball makes its home debut vs. Ball State this Friday and Saturday.
WELCOME TO TEAM TOLEDO!
Our Toledo Athletics family welcomed two new members this month, Dr. Eugene Henderson and Blaine Fridrick. Dr. Henderson, who previously served for 15 years at Vanderbilt University, is our new Senior Associate Athletic Director For Student-Athlete Experience. In this role, he will oversee our Student-Athlete Support Services staff, which has led our department to record breaking performances in the classroom, and our new student-athlete development programming to prepare our student-athletes for life after sport. Blaine comes to us from the NBA, where he worked in creative/graphic design roles for the Houston Rockets and Cleveland Cavaliers. He will become our first-ever Associate Athletic Director for Creative Services. Please give Eugene and Blaine a warm welcome if you have the chance meet them. They are critical new additions to #TeamToledo.
NIL & NETWORKING NIGHT
Over 300 of our student athletes embraced the opportunity to prepare themselves for life after graduation at the "Rockets Rise: Networking and NIL Night" held in the Fetterman Gym on Feb. 19. This was a great opportunity for our student-athletes to be exposed to employment, internship, mentorship and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities, and for the 40 businesses who were in attendance to meet with rising stars of the future. Our business community is one of our greatest strengths, and we will continue to find ways to leverage them for the betterment of our student-athletes and all of #TeamToledo.
BRAGGING RIGHTS….
I'd like to recognize these fantastic accomplishments from the past month:
Quinyon Mitchell: Quinyon grabbed the national spotlight at the recent NFL Combine, running a blazing 4.33 time in the 40-yard dash and ranking as the top cornerback overall. In recent weeks, Quinyon has been projected as high as a top 10 pick in the upcoming NFL draft. We are so proud of Quinyon and wish him luck at the draft and what should be an incredible professional career!
Tracy Mauntler: Congratulations to Head Women’s Tennis Coach Tracy Mauntler for capturing her 250th career win in a match vs. Youngstown State on Feb. 25.
Women’s Track & Field: Our distance medley relay team of Lianna Surtz, Laura Nicholson, Krystal Clark, and Cadence Christie took the gold at the 2024 MAC Track & Field Indoor Championships with a time of 11:30.45, the second-fastest time in Toledo history, trailing only the 11:29.57 mark set in 2003.
Women’s Basketball: Senior guard Sophia Wiard was named MAC Player of the Year, joining backcourt mate Quinesha Lockett, who was last year’s MAC POTY. Head Coach Tricia Cullop was named MAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season, the sixth time she has been voted the league’s top coach in her career, tied for the most in the history of the Mid-American Conference.
Tod Kowalcyk: Congratulations to Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk who was named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award for the fourth consecutive year. The award is presented annually to those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who also display moral integrity off it as well.
Nick Saban: Kudos to the former Toledo football coach on the recent announcement that he will be inducted into the MAC Hall of Fame in Cleveland on May 30. Coach Saban led the Rockets to the 1990 MAC Championship, before continuing on to his hall of fame career.
In closing this month, I would like to take a moment to honor the memory of Kurt Franck, the executive editor of the Toledo Blade who passed away earlier this month. Not long after I came to Toledo in 2022, I quickly learned that Kurt was the kind of person who made our community special. He was more than just a newsman. He was someone who deeply cared about Toledo, who tried to serve and bring together people from diverse parts of our community. Kurt was incredibly helpful to me personally and professionally, and he will be missed. He was somebody who truly lived the #TeamToledo spirit!
This Community. This University. This Athletics Department.
Together, we will accomplish the "impossible."
Go Rockets!
