Georgia Tech Buzz Magazine - Winter 2015

RISING TIDE

EVOLVING LANDSCAPE ALLOWS ALL NCAA INSTITUTIONS TO OFFER THEIR STUDENT-ATHLETES A BETTER EXPERIENCE, FROM NUTRITION TO FACILITY UPGRADES

ALL TECH STUDENT-ATHLETES BENEFIT FROM TECH’S ACADEMIC SUPPORT SYSTEM

WINTER 2014-15

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WINTER 2014-15 • VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2 EDITOR

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WRITERS Simit Shah Adam Van Brimmer Matt Winkeljohn Jon Cooper

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WINTER

In This Issue 4

2014-15

FUEL FOR SUCCESS

22

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT

8

THE LEARNING CURVE

24

HEART AND SOLE

12

EXPANDING HIS ROLE

30

PHILANTHROPIC PRIORITIES

16

WORLDLY WISE

35

Evolving landscape allows all NCAA institutions to offer their student-athletes a better experience, from nutrition to facility upgrades Rising tide lifts all boats because of Tech’s academic support system Tech junior Marcus Georges-Hunt relishes his responsibilities at home and on the basketball team

Georgia Tech women’s basketball has found success by recruiting international players

Tech athletics is marshaling all available resources to connect to its fan base

How four Georgia Tech students brought the Ramblin’ Wreck to the Miss America Pageant

An update on major facilities projects happening now in Tech athletics

COMPLIANCE CORNER

FAQ on Institutional Control

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GT GEORGIA TECH

Tech student-athletes have enjoyed having an athletic dining hall since the Edge Center opened in 1983, but the facility and its offerings have been modernized many times.

4

THE BUZZ

FUEL FOR SUCCESS

EVOLVING LANDSCAPE ALLOWS ALL NCAA INSTITUTIONS TO OFFER THEIR STUDENT-ATHLETES A BETTER EXPERIENCE, FROM NUTRITION TO FACILITY UPGRADES

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

T

The leading edge is familiar territory at Georgia Tech, and not just in the laboratory, research center or classroom.

The Georgia Tech Athletic Association has positioned itself at the forefront of providing a top-level student-athlete experience. Hundreds of millions of dollars in facility improvements; upgraded meal, nutrition and supplement offerings; and expanded services in the Total Person Program have boosted Georgia Tech’s profile at a time when the NCAA’s definition of amateurism is rapidly evolving.

Legal challenges regarding use of student-athletes’ names and likenesses as well as an organized labor movement among football players promise to reshape the collegiate landscape. Whether the end result is an “enhanced scholarship” that covers “the full cost of attendance” – which would add a stipend of $2,000 to $5,000 a year to cover the miscellaneous expenses incurred by student-athletes beyond tuition, room, board and books – or full-fledged profit sharing, Georgia Tech is currently committed to provide “the best we can, given what is permissible and appropriate,” says Georgia Tech Director of Athletics Mike Bobinski.

“We are anxiously awaiting clarity,” Bobinski says. “We try to be in tune with the environment without being excessive or over the top.”

Georgia Tech takes a two-pronged approach to delivering a superior student-athlete experience: initiatives done in response to NCAA changes, and initiatives done outside of the NCAA’s purview.

HUNGER GAMES

New NCAA rules implemented this summer regarding food allowances have sparked major changes to Georgia Tech’s nutrition offerings. The athletic department is now permitted to contribute funds for expanded offerings in the Edge Center cafeteria, such as a Tuesday steak night; issue student-athletes up to $150 in meal dollars for restaurants at Tech Square; and construct three “fueling stations” where student-athletes can pick up healthy snacks around the clock to supplement their meals.

The food bounty is a significant benefit for student-athletes. Prior to the NCAA rule change, Georgia Tech athletic scholarships covered 21 meals per week, and training staffs were limited to offering fruits, nuts and plain bagels – providing cream cheese or peanut butter as bagel toppers was a rule violation -- as post-workout snacks. Now, student-athletes can pick up protein shakes, smoothies, fruit, power bars, bagels with cream cheese and other snacks at the fueling stations located in the main weight room, the Edge Center and the Zelnak Basketball Center between classes or when running from practice to a study session.

“The new rules have turned college athletics upside down from a nutritionist’s standpoint,” says Leah Thomas, the Yellow Jackets’ nutritionist.

“As a dietician, when you are working with young people who burn calories WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

5

constantly throughout the day, you know they should be eating frequently. They certainly shouldn’t be eating just two or three times a day.

Especially when they have pre-dawn practices and they do much of their studying late into the night. They need to eat throughout the day.”

The Edge Center fueling station doubles as a lounge, with comfortable seating, televisions and lighting conducive to studying. The facilities in the weight room and the Zelnak Center are more utilitarian but still give student-athletes a place to relax and recharge.

“Understanding kids all have different schedules, the fueling stations are open from early morning to late in the evening,” says Ryan Bamford, senior associate athletic director for internal operations. “They have been a nice enhancement.”

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THE BUZZ

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Georgia Tech’s athletic facility enhancements are ongoing.

The Yellow Jackets went on a building spree at the end of the economic downturn, taking advantage of low construction costs and cheap financing. The new McCamish Pavilion, Mewborn Field, and Byers Tennis Complex are showplaces, and the football, basketball, golf, and track and field teams got new practice facilities.

Current projects include upgrades to the Russ Chandler Stadium clubhouse for the baseball team and improvements to the Edge Center.

Servicing the debt on the facility upgrades

costs Georgia Tech more than $13 million a year.

But the improvements enhance the studentathlete experience and are a boon to recruiting.

Plus, additional television revenue and bowl agreements are generating approximately $5 million more in revenue each year to help offset those costs.

“We ask our kids to put out a world-class effort,” Bamford says. “We owe it to them to provide world-class facilities in which to do it.”

The remodeled weight room is the buzz this fall. John Sisk, who heads Georgia Tech’s strength and conditioning efforts, relocated all the training equipment to the Brock Football Practice Facility this summer in order to redesign and renovate the weight room. New flooring, lighting, an air-conditioning system, graphics and artwork, and audio-visual equipment were installed, as was a fueling station and a glass wall that gives the facility an added sense of spaciousness.

With all 400-plus student-athletes using the weight room, the upgrades resonate.

“The weight room is now more than just a place to lift or condition; it’s the place to be,”

Sisk says. “We’ve had football recruits who committed to us before the renovation who can’t wait to come back and see it.”

LONG-TERM BENEFITS

Georgia Tech has long supplied services to student-athletes few other schools offered.

The Total Person Program, established in the 1980s by the legendary Homer Rice, provides life skills and career counseling aimed at preparing student-athletes for life after college athletics and graduation. The Total Person concept was the model for the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program.

NCAA rule changes are allowing Georgia Tech to enhance the Total Person Program, particularly in the career services area. Thomas, who heads the Total Person Program, is expanding counseling services. Student-athletes have access to resume critiques and business card design and printing as well as exposure to Atlanta-area companies that offer internships and co-op opportunities.

“Those things were always there, it’s just now we have the flexibility to fund them better,”

Thomas says. “That opens up a whole new world of potential. It doesn’t feel like anything terribly new but we are able to do more. More than the student-athletes ever realized.”

The Total Person Concept of preparing student-athletes for life is one Bobinski insists he and his colleagues keep in mind going forward.

He is concerned that as the NCAA loosens its rules, schools will go to excessive lengths to gain a competitive advantage.

The leaders of the schools and athletic departments that compete in the so-called power conferences need to work collaboratively in the years ahead and not focus on “trying to outdo each other,” Bobinski says.

“Providing excessive benefits won’t help our student-athletes at the end of their collegiate careers when all of the sudden the safety net that some suggest we put in place is no longer in place,” he says. “To this point, the changes have made sense. We can create a terrific environment that sets them up for success. I’m hopeful that as an industry we don’t let the pendulum swing too far the other way.” ■

Tech’s main strength and conditioning facility, the Hugh Spruill Fitness Center in the South end of Bobby Dodd Stadium, was completely renovated over the summer.

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GT GEORGIA TECH

The cornerstone of Tech’s academic services is the Technology Center on the ground floor of the Edge Center, a place where all student-athletes can utilize high-end computers, study in private or in groups.

THE LEARNING CURVE

RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS BECAUSE OF TECH’S ACADEMIC SUPPORT SYSTEM

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

C

Collegiate student-athletes, by nature, keep score in everything they do.

From the court or field to the video game console, they live for achievement. Nowhere do Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets succeed like in the classroom.

Four Yellow Jacket programs, including the football team, rank among the top-10 percent nationally within their sports in the Academic Progress Rate, the measure used by the NCAA to gauge academic success. Georgia Tech’s student-athlete Graduation Success Rate reached an all-time high of 81 percent last spring. And the cumulative grade point average for student-athletes on scholarship stands at 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

“I am so personally proud of our studentathletes for their performance given all that we ask of them,” says Mike Bobinski, Georgia

8

THE BUZZ

Tech’s director of athletics. “This is an incredible academic institution and the expectations are high. Performing at the level we are, and on an upward slope at that, is a great testament to our student-athletes, coaches and academic advisory staff.”

Georgia Tech is trending toward greater success. Fourteen of the 17 varsity sports programs equaled or improved their APR scores in the 2013-2014 school year.

The men’s basketball team, traditionally an underperforming program academically not just at Georgia Tech but at schools across the country, is thriving in the classroom under head coach Brian Gregory. The Yellow Jackets set a new APR high last academic school year, and three seniors graduated.

“The student-athletes here take a lot of pride in their academics,” says Marcus

Georges-Hunt, a men’s basketball player who is as big a star in the classroom as he is on the court. “You can’t play basketball or run track or whatever forever. At Georgia Tech, the type of education is so great you must take advantage of it.”

SUPPORT STRUCTURE

Georgia Tech’s success secret is in its approach to and execution of academic support.

The Student-Athlete Academic Support Services group consists of 16 academic staff members led by Associate Athletic Director for Student Services Phyllis Labaw. Labaw is in her 10th year – and working under her third athletic director – in the role. She spearheaded a comprehensive restructuring of the organization in 2011, splitting her staff into four parts, each with a responsibility to serve a group of

Tutoring takes place in the Hearn Academic Center daily.

sports. The approach lowered the student-athlete-to-staff ratio, strengthened the relationship between coordinators and support staff with coaches, and provided the ability to focus on the needs of individual student-athletes.

The mentoring begins even before the studentathlete enrolls – during the recruiting process.

Labaw deflects much of the credit for the across-the-board academic improvement, giving kudos to coaches and student-athletes and the academic services staff for their commitment and dedication. But she acknowledges Georgia Tech athletics has benefitted significantly from the greater engagement achieved since the restructuring.

APR KEY POINTS 2012-13 APR Multi-Year Rate revealed that 11 teams improved or remained at a perfect 1000 2nd consecutive year Football 2013-14 APR recognized nationally by NCAA as Top 10 percent performer for Football earning a 988 single year and 983 MultiYear Rate Multiple year recognition for Golf with 2013-14 APR recognized nationally by NCAA as Top 10 percent performer for Men’s Golf. GT Golf has recorded a perfect 1000 rate for every year since APR inception Men’s Swimming and Diving 2013-14 recognized nationally by NCAA as Top 10 percent performer for Men’s Swimming earning a 1000 single year and 1000 Multi-Year Rate Women’s Tennis 2013-14 recognized nationally by NCAA as Top 10 percent performer for Women’s Tennis earning a 1000 single year and 1000 Multi-Year Rate Men’s Basketball 2013-14 APR marked 3rd consecutive year at 1000 AOR with 989 Multi-Year Rate: 5th best in ACC. Men’s Basketball recorded a new high multi-year APR of 972 (978 for single year)

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THE BUZZ

“The student-athletes respond to the trust and relationships they build with the academic staff, and the same goes for the coaches,” Labaw says. “They really trust us, which is usually the greatest obstacle that academic support people must overcome.”

Labaw and her staff’s efforts have eliminated another hurdle prevalent at schools with bigtime sports programs: a tentative relationship with faculty. Labaw remembers initial warnings that Georgia Tech faculty members were unwilling to work with the athletic department’s academic support services staff. Professors didn’t respond to requests or share day-today progress reports on student-athletes, she was told.

Taking the lead from Tech’s faculty athletics representative, Labaw “bridged that gap” by communicating with faculty and getting them involved in special initiatives, like the guest faculty coaching program, where professors get a first-hand look at the life of a studentathlete on game day.

“For many faculty, that is their first chance to really understand what it means to be an athlete as well as a student,” Labaw says. “And the way it is set up, the student-athletes choose the professors to invite, so they have a stake in the process as well.”

FOCUS ON WELLNESS

Academic support at Georgia Tech goes beyond study halls, tutoring, and one-on-one mentoring. Labaw and her staff stress a wellness component that leverages many of the resources available to all students on campus, from emotional counseling to technology labs.

“There is this perception among studentathletes that they are on an island by themselves and whatever isn’t on the island is not available to them. That is not the case,” Labaw says. “They have tremendous access to things like sports medicine and nutrition, but we help them take advantage of other resources around campus.”

This holistic approach is reflected in the rising graduation rate, Labaw says. The grueling schedules faced by student-athletes as they try to balance school, sports and social lives take a mental and emotional toll. By providing comprehensive support, the staff can keep studentathletes focused on the long-term goals as well as those in the short term.

“We do advise to make sure student-athletes remain eligible to compete but we’re more interested in helping them maximize their opportunity to graduate,” Labaw says. “We win when student-athletes graduate.”

Each victory is sweet. All 15 members of football coach Paul Johnson’s first recruiting class that remained at Georgia Tech graduated. Several Yellow Jacket standouts that went on to play professional sports have returned and are either working toward graduation or have already earned their diplomas. Among them are Izaan Cross, Keyaron Fox, Mike Cox,

ACADEMICS SUMMARY SPRING 2014

Record Mean GPA: 356 student-athletes earned a mean gpa of 3.0.

Our Female Student-Athletes (n=119/33%) earned a mean gpa of 3.11 Our Male Student-Athletes (n=237/66.5%) earned a mean gpa of 2.93 54.78% of our student-athletes earned a 3.0 gpa or higher.

9 of our 13 teams earned a mean team gpa over a 3.0.

The mean gpa of our freshmen studentathletes, 28.37% of our total studentathlete population, was a 2.87 this semester.

SPRING 2014 TEAM ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE Women’s Tennis lead ALL sports with a 3.53 mean team gpa.

Women’s Tennis has been in one of the top 3 spots for all Women’s teams for the last 6 years.

Women’s Tennis and Volleyball held the top academic spot for the 2013-14 academic year (WVB Fall 13/WTE Spr 14).

Golf lead all Men teams with a 3.34 mean team gpa.

Golf has earned a mean team gpa > 3.10 for last 18 semesters Football mean team gpa - 9% increase from Fall 13 to Spr 14 and at level not earned since 2007-08.

Mean gpa of 8 teams improved from Fall 13 to Spr 14: Softball, Women’s Soccer, Women’s Tennis, Men’s Basketball, Football, Golf, Men’s Swimming and Diving, Men’s Track and Cross Country Will Heller, Vance Walker, Gary Guyton, T.J. Barnes, Joshua Nesbitt and Jarrett Jack.

“We are building an environment where academic achievement is a priority,” Bobinski says. “You give student-athletes a goal – any goal – and most will strive to reach it.” ■

MB MEN’S BASKETBALL

Part of Brian Gregory’s first recruiting class at Tech, Marcus Georges-Hunt has taken seriously his leadership, classwork and basketball development.

EXPANDING HIS ROLE

TECH JUNIOR MARCUS GEORGES-HUNT RELISHES HIS RESPONSIBILITIES AT HOME AND ON THE BASKETBALL TEAM

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

M

Marcus Georges-Hunt can feel the eyes upon him, can sense that his every mannerism, his every action and reaction, is being observed by those who consider him an influence.

Georgia Tech’s basketball star appreciates the scrutiny.

Georges-Hunt is the anti-Charles. As in Charles Barkley. Georges-Hunt relishes the role model status Barkley, the NBA great, once shunned. Be it at his childhood home with his two teenage brothers, at his girlfriend’s home with his 1-year-old son, or at Georgia Tech’s home, the Zelnak Basketball Center, with his bevy of teammates, Georges-Hunt knows his example is one that will be followed. And he accepts that responsibility.

“I always try to do the right thing because there is always somebody watching me and looking up to me,” Georges-Hunt says. “I like showing how to do things and answering ques-

12

THE BUZZ

tions. They ask because they really want to know and be prepared.”

Georges-Hunt is also the center of Yellow Jackets’ fans attention these days. He enters his third season as Georgia Tech’s returning leading scorer and one of only four players with significant experience in coach Brian Gregory’s system. Six newcomers -- three transfers eligible to play immediately and three true freshmen -- are expected to contribute this season, as are sophomore Travis Jorgenson, who played in just four games last year before suffering a knee injury, and senior Robert Sampson, who sat out the 2013-2014 season under NCAA transfer eligibility rules.

The refreshed roster makes the Jackets more green than yellow. Everyone, from coach Gregory to close friend and confidant Corey Heyward, is looking to Georges-Hunt to “expand his role” and establish an environment for suc-

cess in the locker room and on the hardwood.

“Marcus is really what college athletics is all about,” Gregory says. “Leadership is always a big question and debate, and it doesn’t truly show until the season starts and adversity hits.

That is when you need leadership, direction and that one voice in the locker room making sure everybody is on the same page. That is one of Marcus’s main jobs this year, no question about it.”

STEPPING UP

Georges-Hunt found his voice during the offseason.

While he has been a starter and go-to player since his first practice with the Yellow Jackets, he confesses he “wasn’t really that talkative” during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

He deferred to veterans and focused on honing

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his game, particularly last year, when opponents schemed to limit him offensively in response to his breakout freshman season.

“He’s evolved, I guess you could say,” says Heyward, who along with Georges-Hunt and Chris Bolden was part of Gregory’s first recruiting class at Georgia Tech. “He’s been the guy everybody watched since he first stepped on campus. All the guys in the program respected him and his game, and by being more vocal, he won the respect of all the new guys, too.”

Georges-Hunt is the prototype college basketball player in many respects. He’s athletic, highly competitive and knows no enemies in the locker room. He also excels in the classroom – he’s a two-time Academic All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer – and fulfills his responsibilities to his girlfriend, a student at Georgia State, and their young son.

His work ethic and time management skills leave teammates in awe, and his positive, upbeat demeanor speaks to his maturity.

“We take a psychology class together, and one day we were going over life’s major stressors, and

he deals with almost all of them on a daily basis,” Heyward says.

“Yet he’s as calm and focused as anybody you’ll ever meet. And he’s going to ace the class.”

Georges-Hunt credits his family and upbringing for his success. His father, Willie Hunt, instilled in him a competitive will and sense of teamwork and fairness. His mother, Larisa Graves, stressed academics and accountability, messages echoed by his grandmothers. His three brothers, particularly his two younger siblings, pushed Georges-Hunt to be a positive example for others to follow.

when things get tough,” GeorgesHunt says. “I see competitive toughness in this group, though, and very few signs of mental weakness. I feel we will be ready to handle adversity when it comes, and I intend to do what it takes to lead us through it.”

Georges-Hunt’s most tangible contribution will be on the scoreboard. He averaged 11 points a game as a freshman and 12 points as a sophomore, but with the departure of double-figure scorers Trae Golden, Robert Carter Jr. and Daniel Miller from last year’s roster, Georgia Tech will need Georges-Hunt to pour in more points. Georges-Hunt also defends the opponent’s top perimeter scoring threat in most games.

Georges-Hunt needs to display nothing short of “total unselfishness on defense and offense,” Gregory says.

“He’s in a pretty high category already,” the coach says. “He’s the guy to keep your eye on.”

Georges-Hunt, role model, doesn’t mind. ■

MULTI-FACETED LEADERSHIP

Gregory is counting on Georges-Hunt emerging as Georgia Tech’s next great impact player.

The coach’s discipline approach requires commitment and attention to detail, and Georges-Hunt acknowledges the risks of that come with mixing a hard-nosed environment with a roster heavy on young players and transfers.

“Everybody has to buy in, and then everybody has to stick with it

Georges-Hunt’s brightest moment of the 2013-14 season was his three-point basket at the buzzer to defeat Boston College.

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WORLDLY WISE

GEORGIA TECH WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HAS FOUND SUCCESS BY RECRUITING INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS

BY JON COOPER

I

It’s a commonly held belief that if you have talent it doesn’t matter where you are, someone will find you.

Over the last 11 years, it’s been proven that if you have talent and an excellent GPA it doesn’t matter where you are, Georgia Tech women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph will find you.

She will leave no stone unturned in pursuit of that talent.

“We definitely go to them, there’s no doubt about it,” said Joseph, who begins her 12th season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets with a career record of 213-134 (a .614 winning percentage), seven 20-win seasons and a matching seven NCAA Tournament appearances, including six straight of each from 2007 through 2012.

“We pursue them. We go to Europe. We watch the European Championships. We work with several scouting services. It’s a work ethic, too.

That’s a big thing because not a lot of coaches want to go over to Europe and make those trips.”

Coach Jo will. When she wants a player, there is no destination too far. For example, there was the excursion to Serbia two summers ago to convince forward Katarina Vuckovic to come to school in Atlanta.

“I went to Serbia and back in 72 hours,” Joseph recalled. “Forty eight hours were spent on a plane of some sort, traveling, connecting.

Literally, in 72 hours, I went from Atlanta to Serbia, watched a game and came back.

“Those are tough trips. They’re a little bit different than flying to Florida or New York,” she added, with a laugh. “It’s a challenge, for sure.”

But it’s a challenge that usually pays off. It did with Vuckovic, who chose to come to Georgia Tech, got her feet wet last season and is expected to be a big part of the 2014-15 season. This past summer Joseph again ventured to Europe and came home with two more prize recruits, 6-3 center Simina Avram from Romania and 5-9 point guard Antonia Peresson from Italy. Both cited Joseph’s visit as a factor in choosing Georgia Tech.

“I really liked Coach Jo,” said Avram. “I really liked her when she came and visited me. I think she was the deciding factor.”

“I really like Coach Jo. She made a really good first impression on me. So I chose Georgia Tech,” said Peresson. “I also chose it because the academics and it’s a really good university.

In Italy, we think America is like ‘The Dream’ for every player. So when I had the opportunity to come here I took it and I’m here.”

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THE BUZZ

Joseph has been making “The Dream” reality for 11 years. It began in the summer of 2003, when she boarded a plane to Uppsala, Sweden — some 4,632 miles and nine and a half hours away — to visit with a 6-0 guard named Chioma Nnamaka.

“It was always a dream of mine to play college basketball so being recruited by Georgia Tech was very exciting,” Nnamaka recalled. “Coach Jo came to Sweden for a day or two just to be able to watch me play. It was a great visit, nervewracking but great!

“I wanted to play for a program where I could help make a difference as well as play for a coach that would make me a better player as well as a person,” she added. “After visiting with Coach Jo in Sweden and my visit to Atlanta, I knew Georgia Tech was the right place for me.”

Nnamaka was just as right for Joseph’s program.

Nnamaka, part of Joseph’s first recruiting class, helped the Jackets to the first back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths in school history (2007, ’08) and the first two of six straight appearances. She is still the school’s all-time leading three-point shooter (269 three-point field goals made) and ranks sixth in school scoring (1,593 points), among her accolades. Nnamaka earned ACC All-Freshman Team honors in 2005 and was honorable mention All-ACC in 2008. Upon graduation, she was drafted by the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars in the second round in 2008 (21st overall), later playing for the Atlanta Dream.

Joseph has brought 10 international players to the states in her tenure, including Australia native Brigitte Ardossi, who, like Nnamaka, rewrote the record books in her four years, was named All-ACC (second-team in 2010), then, after graduation was selected in the WNBA

Simina Avram

Katarina Vuckovic

Antonia Peresson From left, Simina Avram of Romania, Katarina Vuckovic of Serbia and Antonia Peresson of Italy are all expected to assume big roles for the Yellow Jackets.

Draft (by the Dream, coincidentally, also at No. 21 overall). She credits Georgia Tech’s reputation in drawing these talented international student-athletes.

“Georgia Tech is recognized and accepted internationally, not just nationally, as one of the top schools in the U.S. and therefore in the world. That’s, obviously, first and foremost,” Joseph said. “It really helps us to be able to attract those types of players. Secondly, having international players that go on to play professionally after they leave Georgia Tech, like Chioma Nnamaka, like Danielle Hamilton-Carter, Brigitte Ardossi, we have a track record of them not only coming to Georgia Tech but being successful, graduating and going onto professional careers in basketball as well as moving back to their country and having success.”

It’s a win-win. The players get a unique opportunity academically and athletically at Georgia Tech while Joseph gets a more mature player for her program.

That’s especially true with the European players Joseph has brought over. The Yellow Jackets have three on their current roster, Vuckovic, a sophomore forward, Avram and Peresson, and Joseph is counting on that experience and maturity in helping them adapt and contribute as soon as this season.

“The thing about international players is they come with so much experience,” she said. “[Simina and Antonia] are not typical freshmen, because when they’re in ninth grade they move away from their families, and they live in another city and they play on teams where the women are 25 to 35 years old. These are experiences they’ve had since they were 14 years old, so it kind of separates them a little bit from typical freshmen. They just come with a different type of maturity level and they play at a higher level than most high school players.”

Joseph hopes to see a high level of play from her European stars, most of all Vuckovic.

The 6-3 forward played in 27 games as a freshman, averaging 3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, but showed flashes of brilliance, like on Feb. 14 against Virginia, when she scored her season-high 14 points, including a pair of threepointers.

“I think I needed some time to adjust, first to the American style of play from the European, but I think I did good for a first year,” said Vuckovic, who, in addition to the obvious language barriers and cultural adjustments, also had to overcome a knee injury that cost her the first five games of the season. “When I first got here I didn’t know what to expect but I think it was harder than I thought it was going to be.

The ACC is way more physical and the basketball is faster. All the teams are good.”

She enters 2014-15 at full strength and getting stronger, thanks to an off-season conditioning program. Mentally, she’s more confident, as she’s familiar with what’s ahead and is building off her performance in the U-20 European Championships, where she hit a tournamentbest 57.9 percent from three-point range

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(11-of-19), 11 points higher than the nearest competitor, shot 82.6 percent from the line and averaged 8.7 points per game for the Serbs, who scored a tournament-best 66.0 points per game.

“Katarina is our most improved player coming into the pre-season,” said Joseph. “I think she’s going to be a key to our success this year.”

Vuckovic is taking the lead in mentoring of Avram and Peresson.

“I know what to expect in practice and what [Joseph] wants us to do in the game,” Vuckovic said. “I’m talking to them and getting them ready, telling them what to expect from Coach Jo in practice and the ACC and just trying to get them prepared for that.”

“She’s helping so much, me and Simi, because she lived here for a year so she knows how things are,” said Peresson. “It’s good to have a person like Kat that can help us with everything.”

Joseph is eager to see what Peresson, the first Italian-born player to come to Georgia Tech, can do.

“Antonia is a true point guard,” Joseph said.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had someone that’s really a true point guard that can run a team and run a system. She thinks pass first, shot second and she’s also going to give us an added shooter on the perimeter. I see tons of potential and her being able to help tremendously down the road this season.”

Peresson averaged 3.0 points, 0.5 rebounds and had three assists vs. one turnover in 10.8 minutes per game, helping Italy earn a bronze medal in the European Championships.

She and Vuckovic actually met at the Championships, twice as opponents, with Serbia winning the first time — Vuckovic scored her tournament-high 16 points, in the first game, a 77-67 victory, while a controversial charge was the decider in Italy’s 68-63 win in the medal round.

“At the European Championships I asked her how [Georgia Tech] was,” said Peresson, who had seen Vuckovic at previous European Championships but hadn’t spoken with her prior to this summer. “She told me a lot of good things but that it would be so hard.”

Avram also played in the European Championships but in Division B, scoring 10 points in 10.0 minutes per game over four games, and grabbing 11 rebounds for. Her best game was a five-point, three-rebound effort in 11 minutes in a 89-57 loss to Israel.

The fall started much better for Avram, who pleasantly surprised Joseph in early practices.

“Simi’s really surprised me with her conditioning level,” she said. “She gives us some depth at the five position. She’s got the ability to score with her back to the basket. I’ve been really impressed with how she’s come in and been able to pick up the system and really play physical for an international player.”

It’s a big deal for both, as the first players from their respective countries to come to Georgia Tech.

THE WORLD COURT PRESS The talented array of international talent that Coach Jo has brought to Georgia Tech Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball Head Coach MaChelle Joseph has gone to great lengths to bring talent to Georgia Tech. Here are the results of her international recruiting efforts and the approximate miles and flight times required to make visits.

Australia Giuliett Ancora – 2005-06 Brigitte Ardossi – 2007-10 Atlanta to Melbourne, Australia: Distance: 9,705 miles Flight time: 20 hours, nine minutes Italy Antonia Peresson – Italy – 2015-Present Atlanta to Pordenone, Italy Distance: 4,894 miles Flight time: 10 hours, 37 minutes Romania Simina Avram – 2015-Present Atlanta to Brasov, Romania: Distance: 5,429 miles (To Sibiu) Flight time: 12 hours, 53 minutes Serbia Katarina Vuckovic – 2014-Present Atlanta to Smederevo, Serbia: Distance: 5,279 miles (To Belgrade) Flight time: 12 hours, 37 minutes Slovenia Tjasa Gortnar – 2012 Atlanta to Preddvor, Slovenia: Distance: 4,952 miles (To Ljubljana) Flight time: 11 hours, 58 minutes Sweden Chioma Nnamaka – 2005-08 Danielle Hamilton Carter – 2010-13 Frida Fogdemark – 2011-14 Sondra Ngoie-Hasahya – 2011 Atlanta to Stockholm, Sweden: Distance: 4,637 miles Flight time: 9 hours, 49 minutes “I can’t wait to start,” she said. “From my country there are just a few players that came here, so it’s kind of a huge thing to be here.”

“In Italy, they want to have their talents

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there; they don’t want to share them,” said Peresson. “I decided to come here, because I think you have to try to improve with the best, and here I can work with the best players. So I’m glad to be here and I’m glad to be the first Italian to play for Georgia Tech.”

Being first and having success can help loosen restrictions. Nnamaka, although not the first Swedish-born player to come to Georgia Tech, helped bring in the likes of countrymen Hamilton-Carter and Frida Fogdemark.

“I believe so,” said Nnamaka. “I think when you see other players from your country succeed, it makes you want to follow in their footsteps.”

Avram and Peresson have taken their first steps, and, while it’s a challenge, they are proving up to it.

“It’s really different from what I’m used to but I like it a lot,” said Avram.

“I think the basketball part was the hardest. Everything is faster, the players are stronger.”

“The basketball is so different because the players are much stronger and they play so much more physical,” said Peresson. “It’s a totally different game. The intensity is the most different thing between my previous practices before coming here and this practice, but I like so much how Coach Jo works and how she pushes us and how she makes us improve every day.”

The learning curve may not be as steep, as both have played in multiple European championships, with Peresson, even playing the 2012 FIBA U-17 World Championships, against the U.S. team that included Jackets star Kaela Davis.

Joseph isn’t worried about the freshmen’s drive in working to get their bearings and play well.

“They just come with a maturity level that’s hard to explain,” she said.

“The sacrifice they’re making to be away from their families, to come to the States, to become a better basketball player and to get a degree, they don’t have a lot of room for other things. They’re very focused on what they’re here for.”

It’s the same things that brought Nnamaka and every international player since to Georgia Tech in the MaChelle Joseph Era and is what keeps them coming.. ■

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Chioma Nnamaka blazed a trail for international players at Tech.

GT GEORGIA TECH

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT TECH ATHLETICS IS MARSHALING ALL AVAILABLE RESOURCES TO CONNECT TO ITS FAN BASE

Y

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

You need not hold an advanced engineering degree from Georgia Tech to devise a formula for successful marketing.

Recognizable Brand + Exposure Everywhere at Once = Strong Customer Engagement The problem has long been the “exposure everywhere at once” part.

#NOTANYMORE

Social media is shifting the marketing paradigm, and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association is taking a comprehensive approach to leverage the reach and power of social media channels. The result is a growing interest for in-depth information from the technologysavvy fan base and greater engagement in the under-30 Yellow Jacket faithful.

Tech fans are better able than ever to follow their favorite teams and players online.

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“We have so many good stories here, and it’s time people started listening to that story,” says Chris Yandle, assistant athletic director for communications and public relations. “We are making social media a bigger part of the strategy and that should feed the content strategy.”

Yandle assumed leadership of the communications office in July, coming to Georgia Tech after two years at the University of Miami and four years before that at Baylor. He led Miami and Baylor’s efforts to increase the social media presence of their programs and was a key contributor to the social media-heavy 2011 Heisman Trophy campaign for Baylor quarterback Robert Griffith III. Yandle’s social media expertise appealed to Georgia Tech director of athletics Mike Bobinski. The Yellow Jacket programs and coaches have grown their social media presence in recent years, and the communications office produced a series of popular behind-the-scenes videos with the football team last fall.

But in recent months, Tech’s communications and social media staffers have worked to raise that footprint to even greater heights. The real power of social media from Georgia Tech’s perspective is in giving the athletic department, including coaches and in some instances student-athletes, the ability to converse in realtime with the Yellow Jacket faithful.

The long-time popularity of call-in shows and “Lunch Bunch” appearances speak to the appeal of personal engagement.

“The word fan is short for fanatic,” Yandle says. “They want as much of an inside look as possible. They are invested in us and want to feel a part of the team. We can deliver that through social media.”

Implementation of the social media strategy continues to develop. Tech’s staff started by redesigning all the Yellow Jacket pages on the major social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest – to provide a consistent look and experience.

The communications staff formulated a content delivery approach, posting daily updates from practices and games, and mixing in valueadded features, such as short video interviews with coaches or players. A popular post was a clip of a pregame speech by the football team’s chaplain, Derrick Moore.

Georgia Tech’s play-by-play voice Brandon Gaudin is spearheading a regular feature, known as #AskJackets. Fans can submit questions for their favorite Georgia Tech student-

athlete via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Once a week, Gaudin will ask those questions to the player in a video posted on all Georgia Tech’s social media channels.

A popular game-day feature is the “Social Swarm.” Ten fans, spread in locations around Bobby Dodd Stadium, share their observations and insights about the atmosphere and the play on the field throughout the game. Each participant gets a tour of the field and the press box and attends the postgame press conference.

The early returns on the social media investment have been impressive. The athletic department website, Ramblinwreck.com, registered more than 1 million views in September, with 25 percent of those leads coming from social media accounts. The new Georgia Tech Gameday app, which features stadium and campus parking maps as well as live streaming audio of games, is among the top-10 most downloaded apps produced by college athletic departments.

And the trends are moving upward, Yandle says.

“We’re getting better every day,” Bobinski says. “The next step is to better coordinate it and put it all together. We’re moving the needle and are not far from where we want to be.”

Greater fan engagement can translate into several benefits, from ticket and merchandise sales to fund-raising to recruiting. What Georgia Tech must guard against, though, is saturation. The social media strategy calls for a balance of news, behind-the-scenes features, promotional items, and dialogues with the community.

“If all you are doing is standing on the corner and shouting and not listening to what is being said about your programs, you aren’t taking advantage of the medium,” Yandle says. “You have to gain trust and not turn the fans off. You don’t want the people you need most to stop listening to you.” ■

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HEART AND SOLE

HOW FOUR GEORGIA TECH STUDENTS BROUGHT THE RAMBLIN’ WRECK TO THE MISS AMERICA PAGEANT

BY JON COOPER

C

Clothes may make the man but shoes, while considered an accessory, may be the most invaluable of articles. They finish off the ensemble and can act as the vehicle that allows for greatest expression.

For example, the gold track shoes worn by Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, defined his career.

Shoes also have served as a canvas where the wearer scribes a personal message to friends, family or someone special or a point of view.

They have been a place where one can privately find motivation and inspiration — longtime NBA player and coach Mark Jackson used to play with his wedding band tied to the laces of his left shoe (former player and current TNT analyst Kenny “The Jet” Smith did so as well, until one day unwittingly giving away the shoes, ring and all, to a fan as a postgame goodwill gesture).

Of course, “shoes as messenger” isn’t limited to sports.

On Sept. 14, 2014, on the grand stage of the 88th Annual Miss America Pageant, held in Atlantic City, N.J., Miss Georgia, Maggie Bridges, used a pair of specially made shoes as an important vehicle of recognition and respect for Georgia Tech. Fittingly, said shoes were crafted in the shape of the most iconic motor vehicle in existence, the Ramblin’ Wreck.

Miss America was the perfect platform for the presence of the Wreck, as it was established in 1921, longer than Tech’s icon, which first drove onto Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field in 1960.

Leave it to Georgia Tech ingenuity to create the perfect representative shoes.

“After speaking with several people at Tech we kind of put together this little team to make these shoes and started brainstorming ideas that we wanted and things that we thought would be really cool,” said Bridges, a

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resident of Brinson, Ga., and a senior at Tech’s Scheller College of Business (she plans to graduate as part of the class of 2016).

“We brought together a bunch of sketches, and I was specific about what I liked and what I didn’t like.

We came up with the honeycomb design and the Ramblin’ Wreck as a general theme because I really wanted to reflect Georgia Tech as a big theme. I wanted people to know where I was from and what I reflected, and I think the shoes did that.”

Stephen Norris, Social Media Manager at Georgia Tech, sent an e-mail to the Industrial Design department and found takers for the project in a trio of I.D. majors, Julia Brooks, a second-year from Fayetteville, Ga., Maren Sonne, a fifth-year from Newnan, Ga., and Jordan Thomas, a third-year from Locust, Ga., a member of the Georgia Tech track and field team.

“I think it was really flattering, and I think we were all really excited to do it,” said Sonne. “We talked about Buzz and the Yellow Jacket, but the Wreck was something that was really different and you don’t see a car on a shoe every day. It’s really iconic, and historical. [Maggie] wanted it to be really Georgia Tech and from there, we kind of decided what we wanted to do.”

The shoe was not going to be used in the actual on-stage event but in the “Show Us Your Shoes” parade the day before, in which the 52 contestants ride down the Boardwalk and show off their footwear to the audience. That played into the idea of a wedge and allowed for the honeycomb design, something upon which Bridges insisted.

“One thing that Maggie was decisive about that she wanted a wedge,” Brooks said. “So that gave us a lot of opportunity to dress that part up a bit with the honeycomb, which is another nod to Georgia Tech.”

Thomas estimated the cost of supplies to build the shoes in the neighborhood of $500.

BUILDING THE SHOES

There were a lot of moving parts, including the wheels, flags, and a hand-crafted grill, in addition to several computer-printed pieces, like the honeycomb, which was made of custom-designed, laser-cut chipboard. Thomas estimated the cost of supplies in the neighborhood of $500.

The front of the shoe required specialized care with a miniature replica Wreck grill and bumpers, which were computer-illustrated then cut with a laser, and the flags and wheels, which also were hand-crafted, The wheels were 3D-printed with a heat-molded acrylic inset.

“They’re the first 3D-printed shoes to be in Miss America,” Brooks said. “They’re not completely 3D-printed but they have the parts that are. So it’s gotten a lot of buzz off of that.”

The intricate detail of the grill was especially painstaking and, at times, downright vexing.

“The grill was really hard because we laser-cut it. We probably laser-cut it like 40 times,” said Sonne. “The problem was the grill was so tiny and so intricate that the laser-cutter would just burn it and it would just disappear. So we had

to test the settings so many different times to get it to leave enough, just for the grill to show up but to not fall apart and then we had to poke out the little pieces. We were using little needles and poking it out.”

Thomas recalled that at one point they even used one of Brooks’ earrings to poke out holes.

With such intricacy involved and only about a month to make it happen, there were some frustrating times and a lot of time, period.

Then, one night — early morning, actually — voila!

“We had a clear plan, but then it was a bit discouraging in the middle because there was a week or two when we were assembling all of these parts and individual components, and we didn’t see any progress because we were spending so much time on these little things,” Brooks said. “But then all of a sudden they all just came together one night at like 2 a.m., and it started looking so good. We were really excited about it.”

Thomas remembered that working late, while quite common, wasn’t a bad thing.

“It might have been that late was where our BEST work was done,” he said, adding with a

Š2014 The Coca-Cola Company.

laugh, “We probably just compromised on some of the stuff. ‘We’re going to do this like this’ and just leave it.”

TRYING THEM ON

The group got the shoes done about two days prior to their deadline of Tournament week — Brooks took them for a test-walk, which proved rather humorous, as her foot was smaller than Bridges’ (she wears a size 7, Bridges is a 10 1/2).

The unveiling would come in a special ceremony.

“The first time I saw them was at the Institute address,” Bridges recalled. “I was presented them in front of most of the faculty of Tech, which was pretty fun. After that I got to try them on. It was exciting.

It just was cool to see this idea that we had and design that was on a piece of paper completely come to life. I got to see the very, very beginning stages and then I got to see the end product but I didn’t see a lot of the middle stages that happened. I just kind of left that up to the design team to do at their discretion. They did all the hard work. I was just honored that they did that.

Miss Georgia Maggie Bridges wore the specially made shoes in the “Show us your Shoes” parade the day before the Miss America Pageant. “I wanted people to know where I was from and what I reflected, and I think the shoes did that.”

“Those had already come off before,” Jordan pointed out.

The spare parts came in handy, and were immediately put to use once Bridges arrived in Atlantic City.

“I had to do some little repairs, just like a wheel would come off or one little piece would be crooked and I would have to put it back in place, just because the transport up there was kind of tough on them,” she said. “But other than that it was no big deal. It was really easy and pretty stress-free.”

THE PARADE

The shoe design team of Julia Brooks, Jordan Thomas and Maren Sonne.

“I think it was absolutely perfect,” she added. “It was exactly what I wanted, and it totally reflected the school. It was so detail-oriented. I was unbelievably satisfied with it. I could not have been happier with how they turned out.”

Jordan, Sonne and Brooks gave the shoes one more going-over then bubble-wrapped them and packed them up, also giving Bridges a “CARE package” of items to make her own repairs. Included was hot glue gun and sparkles as well as extra flags and wheels.

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On the night of the parade, only hours after Georgia Tech had pulled out a heart-stopping 42-38 victory over Georgia Southern, Bridges took to the parade route, proudly displaying her Ramblin’ Wreck shoes and Georgia Tech pride.

They made quite an impression.

“A lot of times people would say, ‘Why do you have a car?’ I would say, ‘It represents Georgia Tech. I’m a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket,’” she said. “It always clicked. Everyone always knew. It’s awesome that people could make that connection and then several people yelled, ‘To Hell With Georgia!’ It was really great. We won our game that day so it was kind of cool, especially with the football season we’ve had. It was a great reflection of all that. It was really, really fun.”

She had fun with those that did not make the connection as well.

“Some really oblivious fans would ask me, ‘How’s the game going?’ because during the parade

there was a Georgia game going on. I would always say, ‘To Hell With Georgia!’” she said, with a laugh.

“Most of them would get it at that point, but a few people they were like, ‘What?!?’” she said, with a laugh. “I would then, of course, retort with I’m a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket and it clicked at that point. I had a really good time with it. To be able to keep it in school spirit when we were so far into the week at Miss America, to be able to kind of pull for Tech and do one for Tech was really fun. I was really proud to do that.”

While the banter went pretty much unheard in Atlanta, the pride and reward of seeing the Ramblin’ Wreckin on TV, even in shoe form, was special.

“It was really cool to see it actually on TV, something that you had made,” said Thomas.

“It was raining that day, but they still looked beautiful,” said Sonne.

“We couldn’t see them super-well but the sparkles in the light were the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

The positive feedback has continued to come in.

“It’s been really good,” said Thomas. “A lot of people have been asking for us to make shoes for them.”

Brooks hinted that there was a celebrity request, although she was not at liberty to reveal the celebrity’s identity.

OPENING DOORS

The Ramblin’ Wreck shoes have kicked doors wide open for the trio.

“A lot of 3-D websites, a lot of fashion and technology people have been interested in it,” Sonne said. “I think it’s the main aspect of bringing technology and fashion together that a lot of people have been interested, especially because that’s becoming more popular, wearable things that use technology. So we’ve gotten a lot of press, and it’s been huge. Miss America’s never had anything like this. I don’t know where it will go but it’s really exciting to see what will happen.”

One outcome Jordan does NOT foresee is his taking the Wreck prototype onto the track, ala Johnson.

“I could try to do that,” he said, with a laugh. “I could probably paint them but the extra acrylic and 3-D printed pieces probably wouldn’t work so well.”

As far as what will happen with the shoes, Bridges, who was awarded a $5,000 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Scholarship at the Pageant and plans to attend pharmacy school and get her doctorate in Public Health, feels there is only one proper course of action.

“I definitely plan on giving them back to the school in some capacity because they were really given to me by Georgia Tech and I think, for this year anyway, they’re a little bit iconic for me and my journey in Miss America,” she said. “I would love for Georgia Tech to be able to do something with them. Whether that’s auctioning them off to raise money for something, whatever that may be, I think it would be a really cool item to invest in that way, invest it back into the school that I love so much.” ■

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THE BUZZ 28 Ramblin Wreck.com/ATFUnd

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at ALEXANDERTHARPE FUND

PHILANTHROPIC PRIORITIES COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION OF THE NOONAN GOLF FACILITY, RUSS CHANDLER STADIUM, AND THE EDGE CENTER

With your philanthropic support, there is no limit to what we can accomplish. Between now and the conclusion of Campaign Georgia Tech (December 31, 2015), our fundraising priorities are simple, yet ambitious: To complete construction and renovation of three athletics facilities: the Noonan Golf Facility, Russ Chandler Stadium, and the Edge Center.

To be come one of the few Division I schools to fully endow all athletic scholarships.

To increase annual unrestricted support via the Alexander-Tharpe Fund.

The following pages will provide you with updates pertaining to each of these initiatives.

PETERSON APPROVES RENOVATION OF GEORGIA TECH’S GOLF PRACTICE FACILITY TO BEGIN IN SPRING 2015 G.P. “Bud” Peterson, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, has given the green light to begin work on an ambitious plan to redevelop Tech’s golf practice facility. The full-scale renovation will begin in spring 2015.

The decision comes after many months of collaborating with philanthropic partners to secure the financial resources needed to initiate the first phase of the project to renovate the existing site. The property, which is located close to campus on 14th Street, was recently purchased by the Georgia Tech Athletic Association.

“Georgia Tech’s golf team has a tradition of excellence, both athletically and academically,” said Peterson.

“Through ongoing support, we’re taking bold and decisive steps to provide a stateof-the-art practice facility immediately adjacent to campus. This exciting and transformative project has the potential to make a dramatic impact on student-athletes’ experience while at Tech, and on our ability to continue the successful recruitment of the

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best golfers in the nation.”

The golf program at Georgia Tech has set a high standard — winning ACC championships, producing talented professional golfers, and maintaining a Dean’s List cumulative GPA among players.

Thanks to the philanthropic support of alumni and friends, the “groundbreaking goal” has been reached.

And, for President Peterson, that means it is time to put shovel to earth. The planned enhancement of the golf facility will include completely renovated and redesigned indoor hitting bays, teaching areas, a clubhouse with locker facilities, and a par-3 competition course.

“There is no doubting the importance of having a quality practice site near campus,” said Coach Bruce Heppler. “We cannot thank our alumni and friends enough for supporting Georgia Tech golf, or put into words how much their association with the program means to us.”

Every step of the way, two people have stood at the forefront of fundraising:

NOONAN GOLF FACILITY

Kim P. Noonan, IM 1983, and Thomas E. Noonan, ME 1983. Their leadership has been integral to the success of the project to date. They, along with countless other generous donors and volunteers, will continue to reach out to individuals, foundations, and corporations in helping to ensure that the overall philanthropic goal for the project is met, and that Georgia Tech’s golf team will enjoy and make the most of the significant benefits that come with having a first-rate practice facility near the Tech campus.

As professional golfer Stewart Cink, MGT 1995, put it, “In an effort to recruit

the best possible studentathletes, a program must provide outstanding facilities. The proximity of the practice facility to campus is a tremendous asset.” As is a permanent, state-of-the-art home — which, starting in the spring, will begin to come to fruition.

RUSS CHANDLER BASEBALL STADIUM RENOVATION CHALLENGE

An anonymous donor has established a $2.5 million challenge grant designed to inspire charitable gifts to fund the first phase of renovations to Russ Chandler Stadium estimated at $5 million.

The areas undergoing renovations are shown to the left and inlcude player and coaches locker rooms, a new weight room, training room, study room and lounge.

While construction has begun in order for the first phase to be completed for the upcoming season, an additional $1.8 million is needed to trigger the challenge match to complete phase I.

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at ALEXANDERTHARPE FUND

PHILANTHROPIC PRIORITIES ENDOWMENT OF TECH’S ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIPS

ARTHUR B. EDGE, JR. INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS CENTER Another anonymous donor has come forward with a $3 million challenge grant to renovate the Edge Center. The upgrades will be focused on enhancing the academic center and the sports medicine/rehabilitation center, and will touch every studentathlete at Tech, regardless of their sport. It has been decades since either of these areas has been significantly updated, and now is the time to ensure that every Yellow Jacket has the tools and resources to excel academically, as well as access to the best treatment for the physical rigors of competition. More details about the challenge and how your involvement and support can make a difference will be announced once the project scope is further defined.

The Director of Athletics has a vision to fully endow all athletic scholarships. The table below shows the number of scholarships allowed by the NCAA by each sport compared with how many scholarships are fully funded by endowments at Georgia Tech.

- Golf endowments support golf program once scholarship cost is covered - Unrestricted and Olympic endowments totaling $23.1 million are not reflected in the above table A commitment to create an endowed scholarship presents an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on lives of studentathletes as it allows us to bring in quality and talented athletes that may not otherwise be able to attend Georgia Tech. It can be equally rewarding to donors as they are recognized on field with the recipient of the named scholarship and are invited to attend the annual endowment dinner, getting to know the student-athletes on a more personal level. This year’s endowment dinner will be held on January 24, 2015.

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Bennett Graphics Ad

680 The Fan Ad

COMPLIANCE CORNER

BY SHOSHANNA ENGEL, ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR FOR COMPLIANCE

INSTITUTIONAL CONTROL What is institutional control?

Shoshanna Engel Associate Athletic Director for Compliance

Institutional control is one of the primary principles of NCAA Division I and as a condition of membership, every NCAA institution is required to conduct its athletics program in accordance with NCAA rules and regulations. Institutional commitment to and atmosphere of compliance are often associated with institutional control.

Who is responsible for institutional control?

The president of an institution is ultimately responsible for the for all aspects of the athletics program, but the scope of institutional responsibility extends to all faculty, staff, coaches, student-athletes, and any other individuals or groups/organizations that engage in activities that promote the athletics program.

Shoshanna Engel Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance sengel@athletics.gatech.edu (404)894-8792

Marquita Armstead Director of Compliance marmstead@athletics.gtaa.edu (404)894-5507

Why is institutional control important?

Lack of institutional control is one of, if not the most serious of, NCAA violations. Institutional control may be demonstrated in many ways and is at the foundation of a sound intercollegiate athletics program. Programs committed to institutional control demonstrate strong leadership oversight and build compliance cultures and systems that include robust rules education, monitoring systems, and enforcement protocols. This commitment is essential to operating an athletics program that upholds both the letter and spirit of NCAA rules and regulations.

essential to the promotion and success of the Yellow Jackets. Please join us in maintaining our commitment to compliance and protecting the eligibility of our student-athletes. If you ever have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the compliance office and if you see something, say something.

While the landscape of college athletics continues to evolve and change, Georgia Tech’s commitment to compliance and institutional control is unwavering. We appreciate the role our supporters play in helping us maintain the highest levels of integrity and compliance.

How can you help maintain institutional control?

All members of the Georgia Tech family – student-athletes, faculty, staff, coaches, alumni, fans, boosters – are

Bret Cowley Associate Director of Compliance bcowley@athletics.gtaa.edu (404)385-0611

Shardonay Blueford Assistant Director of Compliance sblueford@athletics.gatech.edu (404)894-0416

Kyle Buffolino Compliance Assistant kbuffolino@athletics.gatech.edu (404)894-0416

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