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Greetings Saluki Nation!
It's been a busy month of August as we prepare for the school year to begin, and look forward to the start of our fall sports seasons!
First, a shout-out to our three Olympic athletes (DeAnna Price, Gwen Berry and Bianca Stuart) who represented their home countries and Southern Illinois University so well at the Olympic Games. DeAnna finished 8th in the hammer throw, and to put that accomplishment in perspective, she is only the second women's track athlete in school history to place in the top 10, joining Connie Price-Smith, who was fifth in the shot put in 1996. If you haven't had a chance to meet this outstanding young woman in person, here's a video feature from our website that you really must see.
Our first home football game is on Sept. 10 versus SEMO and there are some exciting off-the-field developments I'd like to share with you. The biggest news is the relocation of Saluki Row to the grass practice fields just south of the stadium. This is a spacious area, which is free for all ages to enter, where fans can come in and enjoy pre-game food, drink, live entertainment, games for the kids and so on. Saluki Row opens three hours before kickoff, and it is THE place to hang out before the game.
The first home event of the season will actually be an important volleyball tournament Sept. 2-3 at SIU Arena, in which we'll host Central Florida, Western Michigan and Northern Arizona - three programs known for their outstanding volleyball traditions. Attending a Saluki volleyball match is a fun, family-friendly activity that is reasonably priced. We'd love to see you there to support our team, which is coming off its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and returns almost the entire squad.
More good news - Chancellor Colwell asked vice chancellor Lori Stettler and myself to lead a Saluki Spirit committee. We've met throughout the summer with campus and community leaders on ways to boost Saluki pride. You may have heard that the Chancellor recently established Saluki Spirit Fridays, which encourages every citizen in southern Illinois to wear Saluki gear on Fridays and increase spirit in our region. To support the initiative, we are working with area businesses and campus departments on a program called "Show Our Colors" that will show visitors to the area how proud we are of our Salukis.
Along the lines of Saluki spirit, we've just hired Kelsey Baden as our new Spirit Coordinator to lead our cheer, Shakers and mascots. Kelsey is a former St. Louis Rams cheerleader with an impressive background in cheer and dance. You'll have a chance to meet her and all of the team members on Aug. 23 at our annual FanFest at Saluki Stadium at 6:30 p.m. Both the football and volleyball teams will attend. It's a great event for the entire family, with free ice cream, posters and schedule cards, plus fun activities on the field and interaction with our student-athletes. Don't miss it.
Thank you to everyone who submitted questions through the Ask the AD link. A popular question was the status of the men's basketball schedule. We will announce the complete schedule in early September when the MVC finishes the league scheduling process. In terms of the non-conference games, I can tell you that we will have a school-record eight homes games, along with five road contests. Now for the big news!
A common refrain I hear from our fans is that we must strengthen our schedule. I can tell you that scheduling was a major focus of our MVC summer meetings. Last spring, I carefully examined the data on our non-conference Strength of the Schedule and have had multiple discussions with Coach Hinson. We agree that for our program to receive at-large consideration from the NCAA or NIT, we must play top 100 teams outside our league. That's why I'm so excited to announce that we will play road games this year against three Power Five conference opponents. We negotiated these scheduling opportunities with the promoters of the Lone Star Showcase tournament, a Multi-Team Event in which we will no longer participate. We're planning a special non-conference schedule announcement as soon as the final contract details are in place, so stay tuned.
Keep the questions coming and I look forward to seeing you at the games this year!
With Saluki Pride,
Tommy Bell
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