It's official. UB athletics is on the rebound. Baseball had 21 wins, breaking the university's previous record of 14 wins, set in 1973, and rolling up the first winning season in 25 years. The women's soccer team was ranked seventh most improved team in the country this past year. Men's basketball made the conference playoffs and had the most wins in five years. Once again the away games have hit the airways on 89.5 FM, WPKN. Women's basketball had the leading scorers and rebounder in the conference. Women's gymnastics went to the national championships for the second year in a row, as two of our gymnasts earned Academic All-American honors. There's great momentum and the enthusiasm is high!

In sports, as in life, you aim high. That's why the winning attitudes of our coaches and student-athletes are catching attention here at the university, and among the ranks of the UB fans and alumni. You can see the turnaround in our growth. Two years ago when we started our rebuilding plan, we went from a program where several student-athletes played in a number of sports just to field a team. That's not the case any longer. In two years, we have increased the number of student-athletes by 50 percent. This year we hope to get that number up to 140 student-athletes, which will maximize the population in all of our nine intercollegiate sports. Additionally, we've increased the participation in our intramural program by 100 percent, which is spreading the interest in athletics to all of our UB students.

Staying with our Division II philosophy, we just successfully completed our inaugural year in the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference (NYCAC). Our conference rivals the 11 other colleges and universities, are located to the south of us, which gives us excellent exposure to our prime recruiting areas. New, student athletes this year represent more than 20 percent of the new undergraduate students coming to UB. This is a reflection of the hard work, determination and dedication of our coaching staff, which has resulted in the recruitment of quality student-athletes who are successful both on the field and in the classroom.

We have seen the ranks of student-athletes increase and we're fielding winning teams. But we have some way to go. In order to get our athletic program to the next level - that is to further enhance and support our existing programs, as well as by adding on additional sport teams, the university has agreed that all donations for the athletic program will go directly to the program. Remember that any contribution you make will help enhance "the college experience" and give new opportunities to our students that do not currently exist. Additionally, for those of you who are interested, I am looking for volunteers to assist us with fund-raising events. Together we can continue to build our athletic programs and be proud of our Purple Knight tradition. If you are in the area, please take the opportunity to come to an event and meet our coaches and talented student-athletes. We would like to get to know you! Thank you for your support.