Dear Horned Frogs:

Hello from The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia!  This month's edition comes to you during a break from the Big 12 Conference Spring Business Meetings.  One of the highlights of the meetings thus far has been a fireside chat with new NCAA President Charlie Baker.  After hearing his vision and perspective on our industry's biggest issues (NIL, transfer portal, etc.), it is easy to see why he was a great choice to lead the NCAA going forward.

Congratulations to Head Coach Kirk Saarloos and everyone in our baseball program on an impressive undefeated run to a Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Championship!  It was great to see so many of you there, providing a home field advantage and playing a major role in a Big 12 Championship Game record attendance of 14,673.  Globe Life Field and the city of Arlington are a terrific location for the tournament, and the total attendance of more than 132,000 was the second-best in conference history.

We are all incredibly proud of Brayden Taylor being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship and becoming our all-time home run leader in the process.  His total is now 46 and counting.

I know many of you will be headed to Arkansas as we begin play tonight at 8:00 p.m. in the Fayetteville Regional against Arizona.  If you cannot make the trip, the game will be televised on ESPNU.


 
WELCOME BILL ALLCORN
Please join me in welcoming Bill Allcorn as our new head men's golf coach.  Bill was the 2021 National Assistant Coach of the Year and helped lead Oklahoma to Big 12 Conference Championships each of the last two seasons.  During Bill's time in Norman, the Sooners have been among the nation's elite programs.  Oklahoma was the national runner-up in 2021, while being the top-ranked team in the country for much of the 2021-22 season.  A native of Abilene, Texas, Bill had a standout playing career at Baylor.  He was the runner-up at the 2009 Big 12 Championship before competing professionally for eight years and then entering the coaching ranks.  Welcome to TCU, Coach Allcorn!


 
FROGS UP
In addition to baseball, May was a terrific month for our spring sports.

Men's tennis reached the Final Four of the NCAA Championship.  Our win over Michigan (that sounds familiar) in the quarterfinals was also the 250th victory in Head Coach David Roditi's coaching career.  Our No. 4 final ranking makes us the only program in the nation to be in the final top 10 each of the last nine seasons.  Our women's tennis program also enjoyed a successful postseason as it won the NIT with Jade Otway being named the event's Most Valuable Player.


 
Beach volleyball also reached the Final Four for its deepest run at the NCAA Championship.  Keep in mind this was just the eighth full season in our program's history.
 


Track and field will be represented at next week's NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin by Theophilus Mudzengerere in the men's triple jump and by our 4x400 team of Ethan Brown, Donnie James, David Seete and Simbarashe Maketa.  Congratulations to Sydney Juszczyk on becoming our first Big 12 Conference Champion in the women's javelin!

Women's golf advanced to the NCAA Championship for a second straight year, finishing 20th, while our men's program was in an NCAA Regional.
 
CAP AND GOWN
Congratulations to our 75 student-athletes who received degrees this past semester as well as to all new TCU graduates from last month's commencement ceremonies on campus! 


 
COACHING HONORS
I am so proud of the coaching staff we have in place -- we now have SEVEN head coaches who have been named a National Coach of the Year in their respective sports.  

The latest to receive the honor are Head Beach Volleyball Coach Hector Gutierrez from the American Volleyball Coaches Association and Head Western Coach Melissa Dukes from the National Collegiate Equestrian Association. 

Our other recipients of national coach of the year honors during their careers are Jamie Dixon (men's basketball), Sonny Dykes (football), Karen Monez (rifle), David Roditi (men's tennis) and Haley Schoolfield (equestrian).  Congrats to these awesome coaches!

FROM THE TICKET OFFICE
As a thank you to everyone who renewed their football season tickets by our deadline, keep an eye on your mailbox in the coming weeks!  You will soon receive a ring to commemorate our 2022 College Football Playoff season.  

Earlier this week, we began new season ticket sales for football, soccer and volleyball.  Click HERE to make your purchase.  Men's and women's basketball season ticket renewals will begin in mid-July.
 


FOOTBALL KICKOFF TIMES
Our 2023 football season is rapidly approaching!  You have likely seen that our September 2 opener against Colorado will have an 11:00 a.m. kickoff with FOX's Big Noon Kickoff show on-site.  It is indeed the nation's marquee game on the opening weekend.  FOX's 11:00 a.m. Central, 12 noon Eastern, game is the most watched window on a college football Saturday. 

Our second home game against Nicholls will be under the Amon G. Carter Stadium lights with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff and televised on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.  Our September 16 Big 12 Conference opener at Houston will be a 7:00 p.m. game on FOX.  A Thursday, November 2, game at Texas Tech will be on FS1 at 6:00 p.m., while our Friday, November 24, regular-season finale at Oklahoma has an 11:00 a.m. kickoff on FOX.

Kickoff times and TV plans for our other games will be announced throughout the season.
 
THANK YOU FROM THE FROG CLUB
There are not enough words to describe the level of appreciation we have for all of you who have supported our student-athletes through the Frog Club this year.  Your investment in the 500-plus men and women who wear a TCU uniform enabled us to enjoy a truly special season across the board and bring unprecedented exposure to our campus.  In appreciation for all you have done for them, student-athletes from various sports want to THANK YOU as well in this video!
 
Be on the lookout for our brand new Frog Club membership guide coming out soon! 
 
2023 TCU ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME CLASS
Congratulations to this year's TCU Athletics Hall of Fame class of Scott Atchison (baseball), Tank Carder (football), David Medanich (men's soccer), Kishelle Paul Guy (track & field), Matt Purke (baseball), Sarah Scherer-Oursland (rifle), Carrie von Uhlit (equestrian), our 1983 National Champion Women's Golf Team and Chris Hall (special contributor).

It is such a terrific group of Horned Frogs who were part of some of the most iconic moments at TCU.  Tank has arguably the most famous individual play in our athletics history with his 2-point pass breakup to preserve our 2011 Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin.  With his hat tilted to the side, Matt had a nation's best 16 wins as a freshman in 2010 to lead us to our first College World Series appearance.  Carrie is our first-ever inductee from our equestrian program, while Sarah led us to our first two NCAA Championships in rifle before becoming a two-time U.S. Olympian.  

Kishelle was a multiple-time All-American and conference champion, but I am most proud to now call her Dr. Guy.  In addition to her chiropractor practice, she serves our track and field program as a massage therapist.  With his father, Frank, a Horned Frogs football great and 1993 inductee, David provides the first father-son duo in our Hall of Fame.  Scott was a staple on the mound for us before a long Major League Baseball career.  Our 1983 golf team is in the TCU history books as our first women's program to win a national championship.  Chris had a long tenure in our sports medicine department and was the athletics trainer for Jamie Dixon during his TCU playing days and then as our head men's basketball coach.  

I look forward to seeing these Horned Frog greats inducted this fall!



BRAM KOHLHAUSEN
Please keep former football student-athlete Bram Kohlhausen and his family in your thoughts and prayers.  In case you are not aware, Bram was in a recent accident and has a long and difficult road ahead of him in his recovery.

Beyond what he accomplished on the football field, Bram means so much to so many people.  He is a young man who absolutely loves TCU!  Since his graduation, he has frequently returned to campus to keep in touch with everyone.  We are thinking about you, Bram.
 
#PROFROGS
We have 31 active players in the National Football League.  Seventeen teams have at least one Horned Frog on the roster with the Minnesota Vikings leading the way with four (Alan Ali, Ross Blacklock, Jalen Reagor, Austin Schlottmann).  Our longest-tenured TCU player in the NFL is Houston Texan Jerry Hughes, set to begin his 14th season this fall.  Jerry arrived at TCU in 2006.  In addition to Garret Wallow, Jerry is a Texans' teammate with Dylan Horton who was drafted in the fourth round this year.  Both Jerry and Dylan wore No. 98 for us, spanning 16 seasons of TCU football.  
 


We are also well represented in Major League Baseball and especially with the Cincinnati Reds.  In addition to pitchers Nick Lodolo, Brandon Williamson and Alex Young, Reds Bench Coach Freddie Benavides is a Horned Frog.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
It is an incredible honor to serve you and TCU as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.  It is also special when considering there have only been seven previous individuals in this position in our athletics history.  Howard Grubbs (1938-50) was our first athletics director, followed by Dutch Meyer (1950-63), Abe Martin (1963-75), Frank Windegger (1975-97), Eric Hyman (1998-2005), Danny Morrison (2005-09) and Chris Del Conte (2009-17).
 
FIST BUMP
This month's Fist Bump goes to Coordinator of Office Services Gisele Kates.  After working in our football office, she now assists our equestrian, soccer, track and field and triathlon programs.  However, Gisele is about much more than her assigned sports.  She is a Horned Frog for all our programs.  

Gisele's desk is outside the Pinkerton Suite on the second floor of Schollmaier Arena.  Everyone who works in there has a special place in her heart, especially the graduate assistants who are just beginning their careers in athletics.  Gisele wanted to make sure they felt at home and took the initiative to have name plates made for them at their cubicles.  Thirteen of our 22 sports are housed in the Pinkerton Suite.  When any of them has a big win or reason to celebrate, Gisele has made cakes to commemorative the occasion.  Needless to say, with the success we have enjoyed this season, she has been busy and our coaches and staff in the Pinkerton Suite have been feasting on a lot of sweets.  Thank you, Gisele, for making everyone feel special! 
 
Go Frogs! 


 
Jeremiah Donati, J.D.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics