Filed Under: President's Post

During the fall 2011 semester, eight of 17 teams had a semester team grade point average of 3.0 or higher; 63 student athletes made the Dean’s List (3.5+ GPA), and 20 had a perfect 4.0. Women’s soccer had the highest team GPA with a 3.49. Men’s tennis had the highest men’s team grade point average with a 3.40

Once again, Middle Tennessee won the Sun Belt Conference All-Sports Trophy, the Vic Bubas Cup. MTSU has won it seven times; no school has won the award more times since the Blue Raiders joined the league in 2000–01.

2011 Fall Athletic Highlights

• On December 11, the Athletic Department announced a $1 million gift—the largest unrestricted donation in MTSU athletics history—from the late Jeff Hendrix. The gift will be used to construct the Jeff Hendrix Stadium Club in Floyd Stadium. I want to personally thank the Hendrix family, and as president I want them to know how appreciative we are for their generosity and help in moving the University forward.
• Head women’s basketball coach Rick Insell was one of ten inductees into the 2012 class of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. The Woodbury, Tenn., native began his seventh season at Middle Tennessee in 2011–12, having earned five NCAA Tournament appearances, four Sun Belt regular-season championships, and four Sun Belt Tournament titles. Insell also coached five All-Americans and had three of his players drafted by the WNBA.
• Middle Tennessee set a Floyd Stadium attendance record when 30,502 fans watched the Blue Raiders take on Georgia Tech.
• Placekicker Alan Gendreau became the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time leading scorer in football.
• The volleyball program was invited to its sixth straight NCAA Tournament, receiving its second at-large bid in school history.
• The men’s basketball program made history in November with an impressive 86–66 win on the road against UCLA, one of the most storied basketball programs in the nation and owner of 11 national titles. The team also picked up a win over SEC foe Ole Miss in late December and began garnering votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll.
• Senior Hunter Green led the men’s golf team to the Mason Rudolph Championship in September by taking medalist honors with a score of 8-under par. (He also earned National Player of the Week honors.)
• Justus David captured the Sun Belt Conference men’s cross country individual title in October. He advanced to the NCAA Championships.
• During the Fall semester, Middle Tennessee benefitted from three national television broadcasts, ten more on regional networks, and an additional seven games on ESPN3.com
• The Blue Raider women’s soccer team was awarded the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the tenth straight season.
• Middle Tennessee quarterback Logan Kilgore was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-District III Football Team for the University Level as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
• On Nov. 1, the Coach Kenneth A. Shipp Women’s Basketball Office Suite was officially dedicated during a ceremony at Murphy Center. Coach Shipp made the complex possible with a gift of $600,000.