Rutgers Athletics 2016-17 Points of Pride

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Rutgers University is the Birthplace of College Football. Rutgers hosted Princeton on Nov. 6, 1869, with RU earning a 6-4 victory.
Rutgers was the only Division I school to have its men's lacrosse (12), wrestling (12) and women's soccer (25) programs all ranked in final 2016-17 coaches polls.
Rutgers continued to position itself for success in the Big Ten, the nation's premier athletic and academic conference, via facility construction and enhancement in 2016-17. The Fred Hill Training Complex, a $3.25 million project with all funds privately raised, was dedicated this past winter and provides a state-of-the-art facility for both baseball and softball to practice year round. The Harriett and Bob Druskin Strength and Conditioning Center, as well as the Abe Suydam men's basketball locker room, were also both dedicated at the RAC. The Ron and Joanna Garutti Strength and Conditioning Center was dedicated at the Hale Center in August, 2016. In addition, the basketball court at the College Ave Gym, affectionately referred to as "The Barn," was dedicated in honor of former co-captain and hall of famer Jim Valvano.
The Marco Battaglia Football Practice Facility, an elite $8.5 million complex with all funds privately raised, will be dedicated in August 2017 for preseason football camp. High-end practice fields, videoboard, scoreboards, permanent film towers and a state-of-the-art lighting system will provide an ideal training environment while boosting recruiting efforts.
Rutgers broke ground on the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center adjacent to the RAC. The 125,000 square foot facility will serve as a practice center for men's and women's basketball, wrestling and gymnastics. Slated for completion in 2019, the partnership with RWJBarnabas Health will create a comprehensive sports medicine program to serve Rutgers athletes, students and communities throughout New Jersey.
"R B1G Build," a comprehensive campaign launched on Jan. 20, 2016 to raise $100 million for new or upgraded facilities, has raised $72,664,478 from 2,671 donors as of June 20, 2017.
Rutgers Athletics and adidas entered into a partnership in which the Portland, Ore., based company is the official athletic footwear, apparel and accessory brand of the Scarlet Knights through the 2023-24 athletic season. Additionally, Rutgers will receive adidas' product & marketing expertise and the two will collaborate on marketing opportunities and the development and enhancement of the licensed retail landscape on campus. Shares in adidas rose to a record high this past spring, after the sportswear firm outpaced rival Nike in North America and China. Quarterly net profits rose 30% to $496 million on sales up 19%.
Rutgers Athletics boasted seven All-Americans, three Big Ten champions, 23 All-Big Ten Conference honorees, four Big Ten All-Freshmen selections and one Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2016-17.
286 Rutgers Athletics competitions were televised or streamed in 2016-17, including 88 televised on national linear networks. The 2016-17 Athletics team season spanned a total of 274 days, averaging more than one live competition per calendar day, not including features, highlights, previews and press conferences that are uploaded on a daily basis to the web during the athletics season. RVision, the video arm of Rutgers Athletics, contributed to 197 live events produced for non-linear networks. 65 competitions were televised on BTN, which is in more than 60 million homes across the United States and Canada.
A school-record eight programs earned NCAA recognition by posting multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in the top 10 percent. Average multiyear APR rate for Rutgers programs increased to 990, nine points above the NCAA average. Thirteen Rutgers programs either tied or set program records for their multiyear APR rates. Gymnastics and women's lacrosse were the only Big Ten programs to earn perfect marks respective to sport.
A record 115 Scarlet Knights earned Spring Academic All-Big Ten honors to culminate a 2016-17 year in which 204 student-athletes earned all-academic recognition. RU also boasted 72 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars, with cumulative grade point averages of 3.7 or better, for the second consecutive year.
134 student-athletes earned degrees in 2017 with noted musician, actor and philanthropist Steven Van Zandt serving as keynote speaker for Rutgers' largest-ever graduating class. These graduates join the more than 486,000 Rutgers and 5.7 million Big Ten Conference alumni.
Five Rutgers alums - players Duron Harmon, Devin McCourty, Logan Ryan, Jonathan Freeny and assistant coach Steve Belichick – earned Super Bowl rings when New England defeated Atlanta 34-28 on Feb. 5. A segment with the Scarlet Knight and Patriots aired during the Fox Super Bowl Pregame Show.
Alum Carli Lloyd earned her second consecutive FIFA World Player of the Year Award. She shared the honor with Ronaldo in 2017 and Lionel Messi in 2016.
Rutgers is one of only 10 universities with an active coach enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The first coach in men's or women's basketball history to take three different schools to the Final Four, C. Vivian Stringer enters 2016-17 with 977 victories, which ranks sixth overall and fifth among active women's basketball coaches.
Despite playing 17 games against programs that earned NCAA (13) or NIT (4) bids in 2017, men's basketball more than doubled its wins total under first-year head coach Steve Pikiell. The team improved its RPI 117 positions, while winning program's first Big Ten road and tournament games.
Wrestling solidified its position as one of the nation's premier programs, boasting two All-Americans, seven national qualifiers and the No. 12 final dual ranking. The team placed fifth in average home dual attendance for the second straight season.
Women's soccer closed its season nationally ranked by the NSCAA for the third-straight season, advanced to its second consecutive Big Ten Championship, and punched its ticket to a fifth straight NCAA Tournament. All-American and national team representative Casey Murphy enters 2017 recognized as the nation's top goalkeeper.
With 10 wins, men's lacrosse had back-to-back double digit win seasons for the first time in program history. During the season, the team earned the No. 1 spot in the Maverik Media Poll, becoming the second RU program (men's soccer; 1991 & 95) to garner the nation's top ranking.
Rutgers Athletics has approximately 260 staff members dedicated to serving the needs of its more than 600 student-athletes across 24 sports. Athletics leadership under Pat Hobbs has continually evolved to enhance communication, improve resource allocation and enrich customer service. In 2016-17, the Scarlet Knights welcomed Michael Szul and Rick Thorpe to the executive staff as Senior Associate AD for Finance, Administration and Planning, and Senior Associate AD for External Affairs and Strategic Communications, respectively. In addition, RWJBarnabas Health appointed Yvette Rooks, M.D., CAQ, FAAFP as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Rutgers Athletics.
In between their athletic and academic achievements, Rutgers student-athletes made 89 community appearances in 2016-17 and performed 5,108 hours of community service. Rather than take a much-deserved break to begin their summers, nine student-athletes traveled to Honduras with the Rutgers Leadership Academy in June to benefit Soles4Souls, a global not-for-profit dedicated to fighting poverty. Shoes and clothing was distributed in poor and disadvantaged communities via the initiative.
The mascot made 250 appearances, the cheer and dance squads combined for 128 appearances, and Rutgers disseminated 800 donation packages to community initiatives during the 2016-17 athletics season.
Rutgers and IMG Sports teamed with Sidearm Sports to launch a revitalized ScarletKnights.com on July 1, 2017. The site features improved mobile connectivity and a more intuitive design to enhance the fan experience.
Rutgers Athletics sponsored social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) combine to exceed 250,000 followers and grow on a daily basis.
From August 2016 through June 2017, a total of 1,500 previews, recaps, news releases and features were posted to ScarletKnights.com. During the season, the site generates approximately one million page views monthly.
In conjunction with IMG College Sports and Awesome Films, Rutgers Athletics produces emmy-nominated coaches television shows for football and men's and women's basketball. The 30-minute shows have extensive distribution, and are broadcast in high definition in the New York (MSG), Philadelphia (The Comcast Network) and the Washington, D.C./Baltimore (MASN) markets, in addition to being available via satellite providers and web streams.
Rutgers University-New Brunswick resides in the nation's No. 1 media market, New York City, which provides the opportunity for 22 million viewers on game day. Rutgers is the only Power 5 conference institution located in the nation's No. 1 media market.

(as of July 1, 2017)

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Rutgers Athletics 2016-17 Points of Pride

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