Hello Huskies! 

Another successful school year has come and gone with 60 Huskie student-athletes earning their degrees this spring. NIU supporters once again came through for our student-athletes during the 2023 Victor E. Bash, with the Huskie Summer Circuit on deck. While those events are worth celebrating, I have to begin this Frazier's Corner with men's golf!
 
What a fantastic way to close out 2022-23 with a historic MAC Championship and NCAA Regional run that saw the Huskies in the chase for a spot in the NCAA Championships up until the final holes!  Congratulations to head coach John Carlson, who was named MAC Coach of the Year and to Tommy Dunsire, Ben Sluzas, Zach Place, Campbell Wolf and Ian Bruchhauser, who claimed the first MAC Championship for NIU men's golf in 38 years (since 1985) and made the Huskies' first NCAA appearance since 1976!  We are especially grateful to Rich Harvest Farms and Jerry Rich for all of their support, which is a major driver for the success of the NIU golf programs!?
 
With golf completing its season Wednesday, the NIU spring sports seasons are truly in the home stretch as baseball wraps up its 2023 campaign this weekend with the search for the new leader of that program underway. Women's track and field posted a fifth-place finish last week at the MAC Championships with Diamond Riley winning the triple jump. NIU will send three student-athletes to the NCAA Regional Meet at the end of this month.
 
Women's golf recorded their third consecutive second-place finish at the MAC Championships while softball finished sixth in the league and were 26-25 overall. Congratulations to senior Kelly Walinski, who won the prestigious Nan Harvey Award, given annually to a MAC softball student-athlete who demonstrates the highest level of commitment, leadership, toughness and tenacity. In addition, NIU freshman Kiley Conner was named the MAC Freshman of the Year.
 
Spring sports athletes across the board earned All-MAC, Academic All-MAC and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors this month, with more teams to be announced as seasons are completed. As always, stay tuned to NIUHuskies.com and our social media accounts for all the latest news.
 
I love talking about the on the field accomplishments of NIU student-athletes, but how about this for a win. Following the Spring 2023 semester, for the first time in school history, every single NIU sports program – all 16 – achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above. The Huskies' cumulative GPA came in at a school record 3.365, the highest in school history; the term GPA of 3.337 also established a new school record.
 
The softball (3.764) and men's tennis (3.602) teams led the way among the women's and men's teams, respectively, with three-quarters (304) of NIU student-athletes earning a semester GPA of 3.0 or higher. We can all be proud of the achievements of these true STUDENT-athletes!
 
We also handed out some hardware at The Victors Student-Athlete Awards Ceremony on May 4th in the Holmes Student Center. Softball and wrestling claimed the coveted "Victors Cup" trophies with A'Jah Davis of women's basketball and Izzak Olejnik of wrestling named Ms. and Mr. Victor E. Huskie. See all the award winners here and watch the all-sports video here .
 
This year, The Victors were one of the highlight events held during the 2023 Victor E. Bash, which ran from May 1-6 and included the online auction, the Wine and Spirits Pull and the YouTube special Novak Coaching Tree Reunion. If you haven't seen the show, check it out as head coach Joe Novak and some of his former assistant coaches, including current NFL and collegiate head coaches and coordinators, gathered over Zoom to reminisce about their time at NIU.
 
The Victor E. Bash remains one of our most impactful fundraising events. I'm pleased to announce that the 2023 version raised $196,370 in support of NIU student-athletes and our sports programs. Thank you so much to everyone who stepped up during the 2023 Victor E. Bash!
 
I look forward to seeing many of you in person during the Huskie Summer Circuit from June 5-7 as the head coaches, senior staff and I will once again be heading out on the road to meet NIU fans and alumni and talk Huskie Athletics. We will be at Pollyanna Brewing Co. in St. Charles on June 5, at Ditka's in Oakbrook Terrace on June 6 and at the Hard Rock Opening Act in Rockford on June 7.  Register here!
 
While our home athletics events have concluded, graduation season is in full effect here at the NIU Convocation Center! Beginning with the three NIU commencement ceremonies last weekend and continuing through June 4, the Convo will be the site of 23 graduations! That's nearly one per day with as many as three ceremonies happening on the same day in some cases! These events are great exposure for NIU and the Convocation Center and provide a boost to local businesses. In all, nearly 80,000 people will pass through the doors.
 
Graduations mean summer is (almost) here, and before you know it, we'll be kicking off the 2023-24 school year and our fall sports seasons. Don't forget to purchase your football and volleyball season tickets now and take advantage of the new subscription model and payment plans! The home football schedule opens on September 9 versus Southern Illinois with the 116th Homecoming game set for Saturday, October 14 while NIU volleyball opens a new era under head coach Sondra Parys with a home tournament on August 25-26. For complete information on season ticket pricing – which provide by far the best value, click here!
 
Meanwhile, I hope to see you at one of the Huskie Summer Circuit stops in a few weeks and as always,
 
GO HUSKIES!
 
 





Sean T. Frazier
Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation