From The Desk Of The Athletics Director: March 2017

Greetings Highlanders Fans, and Welcome To March Madness!

Our Men's and Women's Basketball Teams are gearing up for the Big West Tournament in Anaheim, and I am getting ready to take part in my first NCAA Division I Tournament as a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee.

It should be an exciting championship season for all concerned, as the Women begin their run to a conference title in the Big West Quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 7 at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid, while the Men get underway on Thursday, March 9 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Both teams are facing off against UC Irvine, and tip for both games is scheduled for 6 pm PT.

Big West pregame festivities for the Highlanders will be once again be hosted by our good friends at JT Schmid's Restaurant & Brewery, right across the street from Honda Center. The official UCR contingent will gather two hours prior to tip off of the first men's and women's games in Anaheim, as well as prior to a Saturday championship appearance by either team.

For tickets and additional information about the games, please visit GoHighlanders.com or call the Athletics Ticket Office at (951) 827-4653. And to keep up to speed on the pregame festivities, please register with us online.

Thanks to all of our Athletics Association members who took advantage of the opportunity to participate in a special pregame party in Irvine before our Men's Team's away game against the Anteaters. An invitation to a special event is just one of the benefits of being a member of our Athletics Association. If you haven't yet made your gift this year, you can do so by visiting the UCR Online Giving page, or by calling (951) 827-4282.

The renovation of the Athletics & Dance building continues as The Bear's Den project will give several of our teams new spaces to call their own, a study lounge, a re-fueling station, and a lounge space in which student-athletes can congregate.

This much needed space will allow us to continue our ascent in the Big West Conference standings, and will allow us to gain national recognition. We have a small group of people in the Highlander community who have stepped up and committed a gift for this project. Are you next?

We cannot make this necessary project a reality without your assistance. Everyone wants to see the Highlanders succeed in competition. Without updated facilities, that success is difficult to attain.

A gift to UCR Athletics and the Bear's Den Project = wins. Will you help us win? If you would like to take a tour of the proposed space to see for yourself why this project is a necessity, please contact Krysta Plato at (951) 827-6823 or Krysta.Plato@ucr.edu.

Our spring sports are also well underway, and the UC Riverside Baseball Team burst out of the gate with wins over Nebraska of the Big 10, and UCLA of the Pac 12, and Coach Percival has the Highlanders talking about their third trip to the NCAA Tournament since joining the Big West Conference..

Hopefully you have already purchased your tickets to the 2017 UC Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame Celebration on April 15 in the Grand Parisian Ballroom at the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa. If you haven't, there is still time to join us as we induct six new members to the Hall of Fame—Regina Carbajal Legates, Deanna Dresmann, Troy Percival, Brendan Steele, Doug Smith, and Dr. Aaron Rubin. To purchase a ticket or to sponsor the event, please visit our Hall of Fame registration page.

In campus-wide athletics news, the organizers of the LA24 bid to bring the 2024 Olympic Games to Los Angeles announced in February, that UC Riverside's campus will serve as a satellite village for Olympic athletes competing in the rowing and canoe sprint events at Lake Perris, should Los Angeles get the Games..

The IOC Evaluation Committee makes its way to Southern California in late April to speak with organizers and tour proposed facilities, and the host city election and announcement will take place on September 13 in Lima, Peru.

Fingers crossed that LA24 gets the bid!

As always, I look forward to seeing all of you on campus, or at UC Riverside Athletics events wherever they may be held.

All The Best and Go Highlanders!

From The Desk Of The Athletics Director: March 2017

Related News

Related Videos

Footer