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 Greetings, Saluki Nation!
We had tremendous weather, a big crowd, and a festive atmosphere last Saturday for Homecoming! It was great to reconnect with so many alums and supporters. Seeing the smiles on people's faces as they enjoy our events on campus is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. Among the highlights of my day was riding in the parade, along with my wife, Laurie, as the chauffeur for our resident Olympian DeAnna Price. Disappointed in the final score on the field, but we did have +1,000 more fans in attendance, compared to last year's Homecoming game, so thanks for your tremendous support! I'm also pleased to announce that our season-ticket base increased by four percent, compared to a year ago.
 Some exciting news to share concerning an upcoming reunion during the month of February. As you may know, this basketball season marks the 50-year anniversary of SIU's NIT championship season. We're planning a celebration on Feb. 10-11, in conjunction with our home basketball game versus Evansville. We've reached out to all team members, including legendary guard Walt Frazier, and the responses have been very positive. More details to come as we begin planning this event, but mark your calendars for what should be a memorable occasion.
Speaking of men's basketball, our team was picked fifth in the preseason poll of MVC media and coaches. My expectations, and certainly those of Coach Hinson, are even higher. We have eight lettermen back from last year's 22-win team, including four seniors. In fact, we have by far the most experienced group of seniors of any team in the league. The first exhibition game is Nov. 3 vs. UMSL, and for out-of-towners, all 32 of our games will be televised in some form this year.
Our women's basketball team was picked fourth in the conference. Coming off a 20-win season, they return leading scorer Rishonda Napier and key players such as Kylie Giebelhausen and Kim Nebo. Their next exhibition game is on Nov. 4 vs. MacMurray, and they play an impressive non-conference schedule that includes Oklahoma, Purdue, UAB and Memphis. You can catch all of the home games and MVC action on ESPN3.
 There is an exciting race unfolding in the MVC's volleyball standings. As of today, we are one of four teams within 1/2 game of each other at the top of the standings. We have a couple of key matches coming up at home versus Loyola and Bradley this weekend, and Wichita State and Missouri State during the final weekend of the regular season (Nov. 18-19). Head coach Justin Ingram is a master scheduler, which has allowed SIU to build an RPI of 56 and puts the team in the mix for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, should it not win the conference tournament.
In the spirit of the World Series, here's a Saluki Baseball update for you. The NCAA informed us last week that we officially had the biggest turnaround in the nation from 2015 to 2016, going from 12 to 31 wins. There is some top talent returning in 2017. In fact, Coach Henderson told me there were 26 MLB scouts on campus recently for our annual scout day, one of the best turnouts in the 26 years he's been at SIU. Check out this year's schedule and make plans to join us at Itchy Jones Stadium.
Jim sent a question to Ask the AD, wanting to know why Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Reis does not handle the play-by-play for our ESPN3 broadcasts. It's something we've discussed at length, and the bottom line is Mike thinks he should stay on radio. We have a responsibility to our radio partners (Learfield, Withers Radio, and the two non-Withers stations on the Saluki Radio Network) to provide the best announcers possible. Mike's name is tied to those contracts. Also, his responsibilities include producing a one-hour pre-game show for every radio broadcast, and he doesn't see how that important revenue piece could be done well if he moved to TV. Things can always change, but that's why he stays on radio. Mike asked me to pass along his thanks, Jim, for your compliment and listenership.
Timothy wrote in asking what we do with old uniforms and whether we could make them available for sale to the public. As a matter of fact, we did exactly that last April when we held the department's first-ever Garage Sale, as part of our spring Fan Appreciation Week. We sold a large selection of excess inventory from all of our teams and generated $20,000 in income for the department. We hope to hold more sales in the future, whenever we have a significant buildup of older items we no longer need.
Keep the questions coming!
With Saluki Pride,
Tommy Bell
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