Story Links
July 9, 2003
On ACC Expansion…
The discussions on ACC expansion were deliberate and thorough. Over eighteen months of exhaustive study went into the review process with Faculty Athletics Representatives, Athletics Directors, and industry experts involved in reviewing information. The Presidents’ Council took the information provided to them as a result of the ACC’s strategic planning process, and dissected it even more considering all possible variations and combinations. We landed in a good spot at the end of so much discussion.
Now that the ACC has decided to move forward with expanding to 11 members, we are focused on a future with two new outstanding institutions, Miami and Virginia Tech. These two schools allow the ACC to become a much more attractive conference, especially in football. The expansion provides a tighter geographic footprint, which in turn minimizes the travel, and missed class time for our students in all sports. We have a much better composition in order to compete with the Southeast and Big East Conferences in terms of interest and allegiance of sports fans in the mid-atlantic and the sunbelt regions. Time will tell whether 11 is the best fit for the Conference, or whether future discussions will need to take place that might allow for an additional institution to join the ACC. Expansion to 12 schools is not the number 1 priority.
On New Arena Project…
We held the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new arena/special events center at the end of May. At that ceremony, it was announced that the arena will be named the John Paul Jones Arena, in honor of Mr. Paul Tudor Jones’ father. This is a magnificent development that gives the facility an even stronger identity. There are large piles of dirt being moved on the site and we expect this project to be completed within 30 months during the spring of 2006. Our fund raising efforts supporting this project are ongoing, and we are pleased with the enthusiasm shown by so many friends of UVa Athletics.
On the excitement surrounding the Men’s Lacrosse National Championship…
Coach Starsia, his staff and team are to be congratulated on winning this year’s national championship. The team impressed everyone with its spirit, hard work, and exciting style of play. People across the country who had seen very little of college lacrosse watched the nationally televised championship from Baltimore on Memorial Day and have now become fans of lacrosse. I’ve been thrilled to read e-mails from alumni and friends that watched the Cavaliers win an exciting championship game.
Congratulations to Julie Myers and the women’s team who advanced to the championship game against Princeton, but lost in overtime. The women had a wonderful season and have a great foundation for the future.
On the 2002-03 athletic season…
This was a year in which we took some steps in accomplishing ten-year goals to measure our success as an athletics department. We continue to graduate our student-athletes at rates that closely mirror those of students, generally, at the University. We won one national championship, and four ACC titles. We are making good progress in expanding our fund raising in order to build endowments that will sustain long-term success. We are building great facilities, and doing much more to maintain existing ones. In all 25 sports programs, we had outstanding success in bringing some of the nation’s most talented prospective student-athletes to the grounds. Finally, we are continuing to provide greater support to all of our sports, but especially for our women’s sports programs, allowing us to comply with Title IX. Thank you to all of our fans, friends, and alumni that have helped us in achieving so much this year.
On the hiring of Brian O’Connor as head baseball coach…
Coach O’Connor has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s premier coaches during his time as a staff member at Notre Dame. He has the background in college baseball that will allow him to put a quality staff and quality team together, ensuring our future success as a highly competitive baseball program. Although there was interest from a wide range of candidates for this position, Brian O’Connor seemed to best fit our program’s needs because of his enthusiasm, his energy, and his understanding of what it takes to put a championship caliber program together.