South Carolina Gamecocks

June 10, 2011

Dear Gamecock Fans:

I hope you are enjoying the start of what looks to be another warm summer in the beautiful state of South Carolina. As the 2010-11 academic year comes to a close, the Athletics Department has had several recent items of good news to share.

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The baseball team has put together another outstanding season, with an SEC regular-season championship and a number four national seed for the NCAA Tournament. After sweeping through the Regionals, we will host the Super Regionals this weekend against UCONN. It's been proven that simply hosting a Regional does not guarantee a spot in the Supers, so congratulations to Coach Tanner, his staff and the team for taking care of business and on a job well done. Let's pack the park this weekend and cheer our team on as it makes a bid to return to Omaha and the College World Series! Wouldn't it be something to open the new ballpark in Omaha the same way we closed Rosenblatt Stadium? And speaking of Coach Tanner, congratulations go to him for being named SEC Coach of the Year. This is the first academic year in which South Carolina has had two of its men's sports' head coaches win SEC Coach of the Year honors, as Coach Spurrier was selected by his peers for that distinction following the 2010 football season. We are truly blessed to have some of the nation's top coaches right here at South Carolina!

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Congratulations also go to the women's golf team and Coach Kalen Anderson for another successful season, with an 18th place finish at the NCAA Championships. With three freshmen and no seniors in the lineup, look for more good things to come from our women's golf program in the future.

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It didn't get much media attention, but kudos to our student-athletes, the coaches, and to Raymond Harrison and the academic support staff for the recently released APR (Academic Progress Rate) scores. Our numbers have risen significantly across the board since the inception of APR. In fact, 15 of our 19 countable sports, including every men's sport, either matched or surpassed its highest mark in the five-year history of the data. This shows a commitment to academics from all involved and also indicates that academics and athletics are not mutually exclusive. We are striving to fulfill both the athletic and academic dreams of our student-athletes and have made tremendous progress towards that end.

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We had great turnouts at our newly created Fanfest events across the state. Gamecock Club Director Patrick McFarland, Athletics Marketing Director Eric Nichols and a host of others worked hard to make those events memorable for our fans, and I think they did a wonderful job. Based on the feedback we had from those events, there is certainly a high level of excitement and energy about the upcoming football season. Coach Spurrier has us positioned for what could be a very special year. We are on everybody's radar as a preseason top-25 team and have had several players receive preseason All-SEC and All-America recognition. Our renewal rate for season football tickets has been exceptional, as we have over 43,000 season tickets already sold for the 2011 campaign. Williams-Brice Stadium will definitely be the place to be on Saturdays in Columbia this fall!

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We keep pushing forward with our facility upgrades. The parking garage next to the Dodie is expected to be finished in July, with the new tennis complex in the Roost footprint not far behind. The new Coaches' Support Building is also beginning to take shape. In addition, some demolition at the Farmers Market has gotten underway. Again, we couldn't do these much-needed improvements without the continued financial support of Gamecock Nation. We are investing those dollars into our facilities so we can recruit the best and the brightest student-athletes. Sixty-seven of those student-athletes had the opportunity to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas in May, and we are proud of each and every one! It's a great time to be a Gamecock, and we again thank you for your support.

Eric