Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt's Monthly Comments
 |
<< Kirby Hocutt >> |
Column Archive
January 16, 2008
December 3, 2007 October 26, 2007 September 27, 2007 August 23, 2007 July 17, 2007 June 7, 2007 May 9, 2007 April 6, 2007 March 7, 2007 January 31, 2007 November 27, 2006 October 23, 2006 September 18, 2006 August 10, 2006 July 12, 2006 June 9, 2006 May 10, 2006 April 6, 2006 February 28, 2006 February 2, 2006 December 22, 2005 November 23, 2005 October 21, 2005 |
| Email Kirby Hocutt |
Name |
Email |
Location |
Subject |
Phone Number |
Message: |
| Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt welcomes your comments and ideas. Your email will be read by Kirby and answered by either him or a member of the Ohio Athletics staff. Please include your name and hometown, and if you are a Bobcat let us know your class year. Thank you for your interest, your participation and your support of Bobcat Athletics. |
October 23, 2006
Bobcat Fans,
I am finishing this column on Sunday night, October 22, 2006 after what has been a perfect weekend for the Ohio Bobcats. Our Bobcat Field Hockey, Football, Soccer and Volleyball teams went a perfect 7-0 in MAC play this weekend! In addition to a great competitive weekend, we also had the opportunity on Friday night to induct two former student-athletes and a former athletics director into the Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame. Bart Leahy, Amy (Lockard) Watkins and Harold "Mack" McElhaney all made tremendous contributions to Ohio University and richly deserved their enshrinement.
At that same time, we made another significant announcement regarding the Hall of Fame. Most of you are familiar with the late Kermit Blosser, a lifetime contributor to Ohio Athletics as a student-athlete, coach and ambassador for the Bobcats. Kermit's achievements were so significant that he was inducted into 11 different athletics halls of fame. And so we thought it appropriate, in searching for a way to honor his memory, to attach his name to our own hall of fame. At Friday night's Alumni Awards Gala, we announced the renaming of the Kermit Blosser Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame. During our upcoming basketball season, we will host a formal presentation dedicating the Kermit Blosser Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame.
Academics
I am extremely proud to share with you some academic news. Recently, the NCAA released the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for student-athletes who entered Ohio University between 1996 and 1999. Ohio University student-athletes posted an outstanding GSR of 82%, outperforming the national Division I institutional average of 77%. Four teams- men's and women's golf, field hockey and women's lacrosse- had 100% graduation rates. I also want to congratulate our men's basketball program for posting the best graduation rate in the MAC at 83% and our football program for posting the third highest graduation rate in the MAC at 76%, which is 11% higher than the national average. I want to congratulate all of our former student-athletes, our coaches and academic support staff for their commitment to academic excellence.
Ohio Bobcat Club
Since the launching of the Ohio Bobcat Club in May of this year, 646 of you have joined to raise nearly $380,000. This is fantastic news for Bobcat student-athletes and for their sport programs! I would like to extend my sincere thanks to those of you who have joined the Ohio Bobcat Club.
Recent Publicity
As you may know, Ohio Athletics has been under scrutiny regarding student-athletes who have broken the law. No one in our department, administrator or coach, is pleased with the number of violations that have occurred. The personal growth and development of our 531 student-athletes is one of our top priorities and each coach and administrator in our department understands that it is our responsibility to assist our student-athletes to mature and become tomorrow's leaders in their chosen profession, their communities, in our state and for our nation.
At the same time, we expect our student-athletes to conduct themselves in a manner that represents the highest standards of integrity and behavior. Student-athletes are some of the most visible ambassadors of Ohio University. We have incredibly talented student-athletes and they understand their role and accept being held to the highest of standards. They embrace their responsibility to exhibit behaviors that enable them to make the most of the academic and athletics opportunities afforded to them.
As a student-athlete at Ohio University a young person must accept responsibility to abide by both the university's Student Code of Conduct and the Ohio Athletics Student-Athlete Code of Conduct and Discipline Policy.
In collaboration with the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee (made up of faculty/staff and community members), Head Coaches, and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the Department of Athletics is in the process of reviewing and standardizing the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct and Discipline Policy. Our new policy, when finalized, will provide a consistent discipline policy for all teams.
It is our goal to have a revised policy in place by the beginning of the winter quarter. I am confident that the direction we are heading will, most importantly, be the correct approach for Ohio Athletics and at the same time will provide a model discipline policy for intercollegiate athletics programs across the country.
NCAA CHOICES Grant
I am pleased to announce that Ohio Athletics and the School of Recreation & Sport Sciences have been awarded a three-year NCAA grant to implement the CHOICES program. CHOICES is an alcohol-awareness program, and is already in use within Ohio University's Greek community. The CHOICES program will build upon, expand, and enhance our existing educational efforts, assisting our student-athletes in making wise decisions in regard to dangers associated with alcohol.
Guest Speakers
On September 7, Michael Chatman came to Athens to speak during our student-athlete reception at the Convocation Center. Michael is a part of the Anheuser-Busch Speaker's Bureau and was brought to Athens with the help of Classic Brands. Michael Chatman travels the country speaking to groups throughout the year about making responsible decisions regarding alcohol, taking care of your friends and teammates, and accepting personal responsibility for your decisions.
We are looking forward to our second guest speaker this year on February 20, 2007, when Michael Franzese visits Athens. Franzese was once known as the "Prince of the Mafia" and is the son of a kingpin in the New York-based Colombo crime family. He was the target of a massive government task force that eventually landed him in prison. Currently he travels the nation speaking to many college and professional sporting organizations about the dangers of gambling and the importance of making wise decisions. I have heard Michael speak at the Division 1-A Athletic Director's Association annual meeting and am very excited that our student-athletes will have this opportunity.
National Rankings and Successes
In less than a week, the men's and women's cross country teams head to Buffalo for the Mid-American Conference Championships. The Bobcats' most recent success occurred at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana with several personal bests. The women's team has already brought home the All-Ohio Championship, edging out Ohio State and should be a contender for the MAC title as well!
I am proud to announce that the Bobcat Field Hockey team has recently received an RPI ranking of 26! Their strength of schedule was one of the toughest in the country and we are all impressed with their play this season. After playing five consecutive games on the road, the Bobcats returned to Athens this past weekend and defeated Missouri State and Kent State to regain first place in the MAC. They can clinch the regular season championship with a win over Central Michigan Friday!
Football is off to its best start in six years. The 42-7 win over Buffalo capped a wonderful Homecoming weekend and improved Ohio's record in MAC play to 3-1. The Bobcats will travel to Kent State next with first place in the MAC's East Division on the line. Based on ticket sales through Friday, it appears that many of you are planning on being at Dix Stadium to give the team some much-needed support on the road. Please know our football program appreciates your support!
Soccer won two home games over the Homecoming weekend and will wrap up the regular season at Chessa Field Thursday with a chance to claim a first-round MAC Tournament home game! Marking the 10-year anniversary of the women's soccer program, the Bobcats are 6-3-1 in the MAC and will once again be a strong contender for the MAC championship.
The Volleyball team continues to be the dominant force in the MAC this season, and is currently ranked 21st in the country. With 44 straight regular season conference wins and 42 consecutive home wins, coach Geoff Carlston's team has maintained an amazing level of consistency despite being the target of every school around the conference.
On behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, thank you for your support of our athletics program. We look forward to seeing you at an athletics event soon!
Go Bobcats!
- Kirby
