AD Newsletter with Pat Lyons - May 2019 - Seton Hall University Athletics

May 2019

Seton Hall's APR Report Once Again Shines

On Wednesday, the NCAA released its APR scores for the year, and once again Seton Hall is not only above the national average, but is also a leader among its peers. Five of our programs achieved perfect scores and received public recognition for them, and two of our teams, baseball and men's basketball, scored significantly higher than most Div. I schools.

I know I say this every year, but every year it's true: our student-athletes put in the time and effort to be successful in the classroom, and our coaches and administrators do a terrific job identifying student-athletes who can be successful here at Seton Hall and then put them in a great position to flourish. It's a winning formula here, and these APR numbers indicate that we are on a great path.

Thank You for Your Support on Donor Matching Day!

Last month we held our annual Donor Matching Day, and I cannot say enough wonderful things about Pirate Blue Nation. We asked you all to help us support our student-athletes, and you stepped up in record fashion.

On that day alone, the combination of your support, the unlocking of the 50-states for $50,000 challenge and the matching from our head men's basketball coach Kevin Willard led to Pirate Blue raising $236,000, a new Donor Matching Day record in our eighth year of holding the event.

The support that poured in from Pirate Blue members is a significant investment in the futures of our incredible student-athletes, who do amazing things both in competition and in the classroom. And I can promise you that with all that they accomplish here and what they go on to do in the world post-graduation, Seton Hall student-athletes are worth the investment.

Thank you to all who participated, and, of course, if you missed Donor Matching Day and would like to make a gift to Pirate Blue in support of our student-athletes, you can always do so online.

We Hold Our Annual Senior Banquet Next Tuesday

This coming Tuesday is going to be a great evening as we come together to celebrate 60 of our student-athletes who will be graduating in a couple of weeks. It's our annual Pirate Blue Senior Awards Banquet, and we look forward to sending our seniors off into the world after four (or five) years of contributing so much to Seton Hall.

And how about this? Of those 60 student-athletes that we will honor on Tuesday, 52 of them are earning the Seton Hall Academic Merit Award for maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher. That's 87 percent of the graduating class!

We will surely miss this group, however, just as they have done their job of representing Seton Hall with the utmost of class, we have done our job of preparing them for life after graduation. I tell the graduating seniors this every year: they have made the most of their opportunities here at Seton Hall, and now it's time to look forward to that next opportunity, whether it's graduate school, entering the workforce or turning pro in sport.

Congratulations to our 60 graduating seniors, and I hope they will savor every moment of their Commencement ceremony on May 20.

Congratulations to Our Hall of Fame Class of 2019!

On June 19, we will enshrine our newest class of individuals into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame, and we have a terrific group of six men and women who have been significantly influential in Pirates history.

The Hall of Fame Dinner is always a fun event because of the nostalgia it brings. We love hearing stories about former student-athletes and administrators and the great times they had with their teammates playing the sport that they love while earning a great education. And I think we are in for a treat this year as we have four former student-athletes representing four different eras of Seton Hall Athletics as well as a former director of athletics and a board of regents member who can share a lot about how much this department has grown over the years.

I'm very much looking forward to June 19, and I hope you can join us. This year, we've moved the ceremony back on campus, and we will hold it in Bethany Hall, a terrific venue and an opportunity to give our former student-athletes a chance to get reacquainted with their old home. You can register to attend the Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner online, and there are sponsorships available.

Good Luck to Baseball in the Chase for the BIG EAST Championship

We have one team still competing in 2018-19, and it's our baseball program. The Pirates have two BIG EAST series remaining, and they are starting to heat up at the right time, winning four of their last six to vault up to third place in the league standings. Their magic number to clinch a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament (May 23-26) is six.

This has not been an easy season for our Pirates; they have had to play every single game away from home because we are in the midst of our Owen T. Carroll Field transformation. However, they have persevered and overcome the challenge to remain one of the conference's top baseball teams.

If you happen to have some free time this weekend and are able to drive to Queens, I encourage you to head over to St. John's to catch the baseball team against Georgetown. We would love to have some fans supporting the student-athletes at their "home" games. It is also Senior Day on Saturday.

And should our Pirates qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament (which they have done each of the last eight years), you can catch the games on the BIG EAST Digital Network via Caffeine TV or the BIG EAST Twitter Account. Remember, our team reached the tournament title game last season.

Battle 4 Atlantis Trip

Pirate Blue trips with the men's basketball team have been very popular with our members in the past, and we are pleased to be able to offer a package for our fans to the Battle 4 Atlantis, one of the premier college basketball tournaments in the country.

Of the eight-team field, we are one of five programs that are expected to be in the preseason national rankings, so this is shaping up to be a terrific three days of basketball.

Pirate Blue has two options for a package, and both include round trip transportation to the Bahamas via the team's charter flight.

To get hotel accommodations and tickets to the game, you must use the official Battle 4 Atlantis link.

Please Enjoy the Eighth Episode of "A Pirate's Life"

Our eighth installment of "A Pirate's Life" which is entirely produced by students in the Pirate Sports Network, focuses on women's tennis junior Michal "Mikey" Matson, who is one of the most out-going and personable student-athletes I know. She has an incredible message for female student-athletes and for anyone struggling with body image as well as one for anyone struggling with homesickness.

I highly recommend giving this episode a watch, and be on the lookout for the final episode of the season later this month.

GO PIRATES!