Appendix 50 Men’s Basketball 2008 National Champions 2008 Big 12 Champions Egor Agafonov Football 2008 National Champion Weight Throw 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl Champions A Season Of Champions - Kansas Athletics Annual Report 2007–2008 1 Appendix 50 The Mission of Kansas Athletics n Table of Contents Kansas Athletics is inextricably linked to e University of Kansas as we both share a single unifying goal: Letter from the Athletics Director 3 Unparalleled Excellence. Community Outreach and Jayhawk Educational Programming 4 In the classroom, in our athletic competition and within the community of collegiate sports, Kansas Athletics will be a national leader— never a follower—in setting the Jayhawk Awards & Honors 6 highest standards for academic and competitive excellence, ethical behavior and fiscal integrity. 2007-08 Kansas Sports Year In Review We will create a stimulating, multi-cultural environment that nurtures the human potential, the mental well-being and spirit of August–September .................................................................................10 every student-athlete and athletics staff member, while enhancing the University of Kansas’ commitment to disciplined inquiry, October ......................................................................................................12 intellectual diversity and uncompromising integrity. rough our success in these endeavors, Kansas Athletics November ..................................................................................................14 will be recognized within the decade as the national model for collegiate athletics, unparalleled in excellence and the standard December–January ..................................................................................16 against which all other collegiate athletics programs are compared. February ....................................................................................................18 March ........................................................................................................20 April ...........................................................................................................22 May–June–July ........................................................................................24 Five-Year Strategic Plan Progress Report 26 Kansas Athletics Financial Page 31 Williams Educational Fund Donors 32 Kansas Athletics Board of Directors: Jerry Bailey, Faculty Athletics Representative; Theresa Gordzica, Chief Business & Financial Planning Officer; Richard Lariviere, Provost; Adam McGonigle, Student Body President; Lew Perkins, Athletics Director; Marlesa Roney, Vice-Provost. Chancellor’s Advisory Committee: Matt Baysinger, Student-Athlete; Theresa Becker, Kansas Athletics; Paul Buskirk, Kansas Athletics; Winifred Dunn, Faculty; Jonathan Earle, Faculty; Sandra Gautt, Faculty; Donna Ginther, Faculty; Rick Hale, Faculty; Sheri Hauck, Alumnus; Paul Hefferon, Student-Athlete; Meredith Kleykamp, Faculty; Mike Maddox, Alumnus; Hannah McMacken, Student-Athlete; Henry Menghini, Alumnus; Tom Mulinazzi, Faculty; Lori Piening, Alumnus; Judy Pottorff, Kansas Athletics; J.R. Reilly, Alumnus; Mike Rivera, Student-Athlete; Debbie Van Saun, Kansas Athletics. Photography by Jeff and Laura Jacobsen except where noted The April 13 victory parade in downtown Lawrence honoring the Kansas men’s basketball team drew an estimated 100,000. Overflowing crowds on Massachusetts Street were not uncommon this year as the football team won the Orange Bowl and Men’s Basketball was triumphant in the Final Four. 2 Letter from the Athletics Director Appendix 50 Dear Friends and Fellow Jayhawks: As noted on the cover, 2007-08 was a Season of Champions, and what a year it was. An Orange Bowl victory that sent virtually everyone in Lawrence into the streets to celebrate. A men’s basketball National Championship highlighted by a Shot that sent everyone into the streets again. A visit to the White House Rose Garden. A year of three Olympians, 16 All-American selections, another Big 12 Sportsperson of the Year and a weight-thrower named Egor, who earned his second consecutive National Championship. Academically, our Season of Champions is equally as impressive. Both in the fall and spring semesters, KU student-athletes toppled all prior combined GPA records as more than half earned recognition on the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll. The combined GPA of 2.93 was the highest ever for the fall term. Our student-athletes then broke the all-time record in the spring with a 3.03. These new high marks obviously were helped along by an unprecedented total of 106 perfect 4.0’s. Meanwhile, our Jayhawk student-athletes were proving a positive force throughout the State of Kansas, providing support for the dispossessed citizens of tornado-ravaged Greensburg, organizing “Devin’s Run” to raise money for a seriously ill youth, leading fitness programs for area youngsters and promoting literacy statewide through the READ program. Champions come in many guises. So yes, it was an incredible year for Kansas Athletics. We arrived at the halfway point of our five-year strategic plan. Unparalleled Excellence is our roadmap for building a program of unsurpassed integrity and stability, one we feel will ensure Kansas Athletics takes a deserved place among the most respected, well-rounded athletics departments in the country. Inside these pages you will find a progress report on the goals designed to bring that plan to fruition. I am excited to share with you our successes as well as our plans for the future. If you visited campus lately, you have seen first-hand the immense undertaking of the $33 million Anderson Family Football Complex at Kivisto Field, where the football program now resides. It is just the beginning. Major construction and renovation to Kansas Athletics facilities continues, including a new basketball practice facility, new locker rooms for our soccer, softball and track and field teams, new and upgraded facilities for our golf, baseball and tennis programs, and new office space for nearly every sport. Kansas Athletics is committed to offering a competitive and recreational environment that fosters teamwork, discipline, goal setting, physical fitness, character development, self confidence and best of all, the simple joy of achievement. It is our heritage — in- deed, our dedicated mission — to serve young people who aspire to succeed at the highest levels. It is our duty at Kansas Athletics to prepare those student-athletes athletically, to prepare them academically and, most importantly, to prepare them for their future life away from college, where they one day will take their place as productive and community-conscious citizens. But this mission is not ours alone. We succeed because of the encouragement and generous support that you — our donors, fans and business partners — constantly give us. This past year Kansas Athletics’ budget exceeded $53 million, nearly a third of which came directly from Jayhawk supporters like you. Your generosity allows Kansas Athletics to provide Jayhawk student-athletes with a college experience unparalleled in NCAA Division I athletics, as well as providing them with the tools, facilities, training and support to become the champions they have become. Indeed, it was an incredible year for our student-athletes. It was an incredible year for all Jayhawks. The KU Debate Team garnered national recognition when it finished a remarkable year with a No. 1 national ranking. The Special Education and City Management & Urban Policy programs achieved national rankings in U.S. News & World Report. And the University recently announced plans for a $60 million expansion of the School of Pharmacy, a program ranked first in the percentage of faculty earning National Institutes of Health research grants. In addition to national recognition, rankings and awards, the KU students, faculty and staff reached out to help the people of Greensburg, KS, rebuild after a tornado devastated their community last year. Architecture graduate students designed and constructed the new Greensburg community arts center, a building that has recently been awarded LEED certification, the highest environmental ranking a building can achieve and one of only 67 in the United States. Players from KU’s National Championship Men’s Basketball team made an unannounced visit to Greensburg in April, surprising the boys varsity basketball team with jerseys, signing autographs, and touring the rebuilding community. Thanks for all you’ve done to help us continue building this great legacy that is Kansas Athletics. Here’s to another great year ahead, and to another Season of Champions. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Lew Perkins Director of Athletics 3 Kansas Athletics Community Outreach Appendix 50 and Educational Programming Kansas Athletics encourages the involvement of all our student-athletes in the life of their community. This effort is led by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a committee comprised of representatives from every KU athletics team. As volunteers, KU student-athletes represent not only themselves, but also their teams, Kansas Athletics and the entire University. By giving back to Lawrence and surrounding communities, student-athletes gain leadership skills through service while providing a positive force within their community. The following provides an overview of Kansas’ efforts in the area of student-athlete development and community service. CHAMPS/Life Skills Kansas Athletics continues to be committed