Greetings, Bearcats! What a great day. Today is signing day and is always a fun time on campuses all around the country. Our coaches believe this is one of our best classes ever. What that translates to on the field remains to be seen, but what we do know is the football coaches have done a great job recruiting quality young men. The average GPA of the 26 student-athletes in this class is 3.38 and their ACT scores average 22.4. As many of you know, Northwest athletes’ academic achievements are greater than almost all of our conference and regional NCAA D2 peers. The recruiting process is part of the reason why. Kudos to our coaches.
Our men’s basketball team continues to be on an impressive roll. They are ranked in the top 25 and are currently tied for first in the MIAA conference. Watching this team develop and mature over the last 24 months has been a pleasure. It will be fun to watch them down the stretch.
Speaking of basketball, thanks to the over 2,000 Bearcat fans that showed up for last Saturday’s whiteout against Fort Hays. It was a great time and fun environment for our basketball players. In addition, it was good representation to an MIAA television audience. If you didn’t make it, make sure and be here for our remaining home games!
Time flies. And the older I get, the faster it goes. I received a text from Maryville councilman Chad Jackson on Dec. 20. It said: “Happy one year anniversary. You were announced as the Athletic Director at Northwest one year ago today.” One year. 525,600 minutes. It has happened so fast. A few days ago, Joey Falkoff at the Maryville Daily Forum stopped by my office to do a one year recap. It was the first time, I really thought about the past year. I can’t believe how fast it has flown by.
We’ve had a women’s basketball final four appearance, a retirement, a tragic death, a triumphant football season, turnaround seasons for soccer and men’s basketball, and much more. It has been an eventful 12 months. One thing that has remained constant is the passion our fans have for our programs. My wife, Heather and I have enjoyed getting to know everyone this year. Here’s to another year of triumphant victories, student-athlete success and making friends. Go Bearcats!