Bucknell University Athletics
From the AD's Desk
6/28/2013 8:00:00 AM | Bison Club
June 28, 2013
Greetings Bison Fans!
I hope you are enjoying summer and getting geared up for the 4th of July holiday. Even though the pace seems to get a bit slower on campus during the summer months, there is still plenty of activity in the world of athletics, and we have had quite a bit to celebrate in the recent weeks.
Every so often something happens that makes you pause and reflect on how special it is to be associated with Bucknell and Bison Athletics. One of those lump-in-the-throat moments occurred on Thursday night, when our very own basketball star Mike Muscala heard his name called in the second round of the NBA Draft. In case you missed it, Mike was selected 44th overall by the Dallas Mavericks, and then he was sent to the Atlanta Hawks as part of a draft-night trade. Mike embodies the Bucknell student-athlete. He is a fine young man with a great family, and at Bucknell he was motivated by the right things: to be the best he could possibly be as a student, as an athlete and as a teammate. Not only was Mike one of the best basketball players in the 118-year history of Bison Basketball, but he was also the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and an Academic All-American. Mike proved that you can be an elite, national-caliber athlete and still take advantage of everything that Bucknell has to offer academically. We are so proud of him and can't wait to cheer him on with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
Mike Muscala was not the only national Academic All-American from Bucknell this year. Junior Joe Meyer of the men's soccer program earned that distinction in the fall, and just last week senior distance runner Caroline Tolli became an Academic All-American for the first time. What a special career Caroline had at Bucknell. She carried a perfect 4.0 GPA through her first seven semesters, and at the Senior Awards Dinner in May she received both the Alvin F. Jackson Memorial Scholar-Athlete Award and shared the Christy Mathewson Award with Mike Muscala as the top senior athletes. Bucknell now has 124 all-time Academic All-Americans, the fifth-highest total among all Division I programs.
Keeping on the academic theme for a moment, I was once again very pleased at our performance in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) report, which came out in mid-June. The APR was developed 10 years ago to monitor student-athlete progress. It is a more robust indicator than raw graduation rates, as the APR formula combines both academic eligibility and retention. Programs that do not meet certain minimums can face sanctions, such as loss of scholarships and postseason eligibility. Once again this year, I am proud to report that all 27 Bucknell sport programs easily met those minimum standards. In fact, 19 of our teams posted perfect scores of 1,000 on a four-year rolling average. The NCAA issues APR National Recognition Awards to programs that rank in the top 10 percent of their respective sport, and 19 Bison teams received that honor this year. That is an all-time high for us, and it is the third-highest total in the entire nation, trailing only Dartmouth and Brown.
Success in the classrooms and laboratories was also met with success on the playing fields in 2012-13. For the 18th time in the 23-year history of the league, Bucknell captured the Patriot League Presidents' Cup! The all-sports competition was the closest it has ever been this year, as we edged out Navy by just 0.5 points. You might recall that Navy captured the Cup in 2011-12, and Lehigh topped the men's standings this year by a mere one point over Bucknell. The league has never been more competitive, and things are only going to get tougher as Boston University and Loyola University Maryland officially join the Patriot League on July 1. Those are two outstanding and well-rounded athletics programs, and the competition for future Presidents' Cups is going to be incredibly challenging. I am confident that our coaches and student-athletes will be as prepared as they can be to tackle that challenge head-on. The landscape of college athletics continues to be fluid, and I can't wait to see what 2013-14 brings.
One of the highlights of the spring season was our Bison Club reception tour as part of the We Do campaign for Bucknell. The caravan was a tremendous success once again this year, and I would like to personally thank all of our guests, and particularly our alumni sponsors, at each of the seven receptions in Baltimore, New York City, New Jersey Shore, Boston, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Making this year's events even more special was the appearance of former Bucknell president Gary Sojka. At each reception Gary spoke eloquently and informatively about the We Do campaign and how it pertains to Bison Athletics.
I am proud to say that the Bison Club surpassed its goals in 2012-13 and achieved near-record receipts. For the second year in a row, we had 100 percent participation by our senior student-athletes as part of the Senior Gift Drive. Two of our most philanthropic alumni, Bill Graham and Bill Dearstyne, have pledged their generous support toward an exciting new leadership and wrestling center that will be constructed adjacent to Sojka Pavilion. The facility will include space for the Bucknell Bison Leadership Academy and will also provide much-needed locker room and training amenities for the Bison wrestling team.
The We Do campaign will also address our needs for major renovations to Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. We also have some smaller, yet still-significant, projects underway, such as the renovation of the volleyball and swimming and diving locker rooms. To everyone who made a donation to the Bison Club this year, THANK YOU! As a reminder, your support goes much further than "wish list" items. The athletics budget is only partially funded by the university, meaning each of our 27 programs relies on fundraised dollars to account for basic necessities, such as uniforms, travel and recruiting costs.
While our coaches are out recruiting and conducting camps and clinics throughout the summer, the athletics staff is typically busy planning for next year. One of our largest and most exciting projects is the overhaul of the Bison Athletics website. We have partnered with the digital technology company NeuLion for a complete redesign, and the new site will be launched in August. One of the highlights of the project is that BucknellBison.com will now be much more accessible on mobile devices. We are also excited about the new Patriot League Digital Network that will be launching this fall. This new online service will allow fans to see more live events online, in addition to other new features such as studio shows and highlights.
In closing, I would like to offer my personal congratulations and best wishes to two members of the Athletics family who recently announced their retirements. Senior associate director of athletics Calvin Symons has spent the last six years at Bucknell, first overseeing our office of NCAA compliance and student services before transitioning to operations and events. Calvin's leadership, integrity and commitment to our student-athletes will be greatly missed. The Bison track and field program will be saying goodbye to assistant coach Bob Schanbacher after 22 years. During that time Bob's throwers have won 78 conference championships, earned four All-America honors and established almost 50 school records. He will go down as one of the most successful and influential assistant coaches we have ever had at Bucknell, and I know that head coach Kevin Donner and all of his student-athletes will sorely miss him. Please join me in wishing Calvin and Bob all of the best in retirement!
It's hard to believe that we are only about five weeks away from the fall sports teams starting to return to campus. The 2013-14 campaign will be underway before you know it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy a safe and relaxing summer!
Thanks for all of your support ... and GO BISON!
All the best,
John Hardt
Director of Athletics & Recreation
