From The AD's Desk: Mid-Year Update
January 12, 2018 09:31 AM | From the ADs Desk
As we adjust our calendars to a new month and a new year, it's always helpful to take a peek back at what we've done before we set our sights on what's ahead.The recently concluded fall sports season has continued the great success that we've come to enjoy and expect here at West Virginia University.
Women's soccer made its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Nikki Izzo-Brown, reaching the Sweet 16 and concluding its season with another top 10 national ranking.
Reed Sunahara did a fabulous job with this year's volleyball team, guiding the Mountaineers to their first postseason trip in 26 years by reaching the semifinals of the National Volleyball Invitational Championship - two years after the program failed to win a single match in Big 12 play.
That's truly a remarkable turnaround!
The ending to this year's football season wasn't what we desired, but keep in mind this team spent a good portion of the year in the national rankings and had a great opportunity to finish with eight or nine victories barring some late-season injuries.
Having quarterback Will Grier, Biletnikoff Award finalist David Sills V and offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste back for their senior seasons, coupled with this year's nationally ranked recruiting class, has led to a lot of optimism for Mountaineer football in 2018. One early national preseason poll I saw had us rated in the top 10.
Academically, 23 student-athletes earned their degrees in December, and the department's overall grade point average was an outstanding 3.16 with 13 of our 18 teams having a team GPA higher than 3.0, something of which we are very proud.
Looking ahead, a lot of progress has been made on the new Mountaineer Aquatic Center under construction out at Mylan Park, and the reports I have been receiving indicate a Spring 2019 opening is still well within reach. The planned outdoor track and field complex at Mylan Park is also progressing nicely, I am told.
Our attention has also turned to some sorely needed improvements to help enhance of our student-athlete experience.
At the top of the list is a fully renovated football athletic training facility, which is going to double the size of the current area and will be fully operational by the time training camp begins in August. This is part of the initial phase of a comprehensive facility master plan we hope to reveal in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the winter sports season has gotten off to a tremendous start as nearly all of our teams find themselves in the national rankings this week.
Rifle has already established three NCAA records and continues at the top of the national rankings; men's basketball has soared to No. 2 for its highest ranking in 58 years when Jerry West was playing for the Mountaineers; women's basketball is ranked 15th this week despite enduring several debilitating injuries; and our women's gymnastics team recently cracked the top 25 at No. 16.
Wrestling is not ranked yet, but the Mountaineers are receiving votes in the current coaches' poll and have already defeated three nationally ranked opponents so far this year, including No. 18 Oklahoma. I'm anxious to see how the team performs down the stretch and into the postseason.
For that matter, I'm anxious to see how all of our remaining teams perform as they head into postseason play.
I encourage you to come out and support as many athletic events as you can to help demonstrate our appreciation for the truly wonderful student-athletes and coaches we have here at West Virginia University!
As always, Let's Go Mountaineers!
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