FROG VISION
In case you missed it yesterday, we announced the debut of our new Frog Vision multimedia player. We are also in negotiations with our third-tier television rights, which will further enhance this package. Frog Vision is similar to what many of our Big 12 counterparts produce. It provides the ability to see one football game streamed online each season, as well as being able to access the live game audio from all our sports that have radio broadcasts, live video of select home games in baseball, men's and women's basketball, soccer and volleyball and coverage of all news conferences, including football coach Gary Patterson's weekly presser during the season. The monthly fee is $9.95. However, you can obtain a total savings of $40 with the purchase of an annual package for $79.95. We truly believe you'll enjoy the unprecedented programming we'll provide through Frog Vision.

TCU TICKET EXCHANGE
If you can't make it to every home football game, you can now exchange your tickets to family and friends through TCU. Avoid mailing or finding a location to meet and deliver tickets. With ticket exchange, everything is done via email. This is a great way to be sure your tickets are used for each home game. It's as simple as signing into your season-ticket account and selecting the game and ticket(s) you wish to exchange. This exciting new option will be available soon. Look for more information from our athletics ticket office later this month.

STADIUM SEATS/CUSHIONS
I have received numerous emails and phone calls regarding the policy about no personal stadium seat/cushions being allowed. Thank you for your comments, both for and against. We will continue to monitor the feedback and review the policy, as always, at the end of the season. Believe it or not, this policy has been around for many years. However, we've been consistently inconsistent in its enforcement since we had the space to spread out. We'll now have sellouts for all our games. Physical limitations requiring back support are valid, as are the comments about cushions taking up the space of other fans trying to enjoy the game. Unfortunately, our lower bowl does not have the space requirements that allow for cushions with backs. While one fan has the enjoyment of the back, another has "their" space occupied by someone's cushion. Our goal is to provide an enjoyable game day for all fans.

SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
While we make Amon G. Carter Stadium a sea of purple this fall, 4,000 seats are allocated to the visiting teams for each of our home football games. Through visiting team allotments, we will have some extra inventory available. Be on the lookout over the next two weeks for an announcement on how to purchase these limited quantity single-game tickets.

STUDENT REMINDER
Beginning today, Aug. 15, TCU students may request tickets to road games for our inaugural season in the Big 12. Requests must be submitted by Aug. 31. Ticket quantities are limited. If demand exceeds supply, tickets will be issued based on a lottery.

BANNERS UP
If you've been through campus or beautiful downtown Fort Worth recently, you might have noticed our nearly 600 new Big 12 banners that are now up. We'll soon be hitting the Stockyards and stretches of University Avenue between I-30 and our campus. A tip of the cap goes to our marketing office for a job well done in producing these.

FROM THE HARD HATS
It's definitely a busy time in Amon G. Carter Stadium as 671 contractors checked in for work Friday. The Champions' level club and suites are nearing completion, while cabinets and other woodwork are being installed in the Founders' club and suites. The work on the east side continues on schedule. The west side party patios are nearing completion, and the parking lots are starting to take shape. The project is still dangerous and continues to be a hardhat area. We know that curiosity levels are high, but we ask the Horned Frog faithful to be patient with us. The stadium will be open to the public on Sept. 6. In the meantime, please do not enter the project.

SEASON OPENER
Our athletics season officially begins Friday when soccer, under new head coach Eric Bell, travels to New Mexico. Our volleyball program will host its annual Alumni Match on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Rec Center. Admission is free.

HORNED FROG CLASSIC NEARING
Please mark your calendar for the 34th-annual Horned Frog Classic golf tournament on Monday, Oct. 15, at Colonial Country Club. Become a sponsor or reserve a playing spot at www.tcufrogclub.com.

MEET THE STAFF
I recently received a nice suggestion about having a weekly feature in which we spotlight or introduce one of our departmental employees. Who better to start with than Tommy Love, our assistant athletics director for business and senior member in terms of service to TCU Athletics. Tommy is in his 38th year with us. He came to the Horned Frogs in 1974 as an assistant ticket manager and Frank Windegger's first hire as athletics director. Tommy was in the ticket office for two years before being promoted to ticket manager. He was in that role for nearly 25 years before moving to the business office in 1998. Tommy is a native of Tulia, Texas, which is midway between Amarillo and Lubbock. Prior to arriving at TCU, Tommy was a sportswriter for the Fort Worth Press and had TCU and the Texas Rangers on his beat. Tommy and his wife, Donna, have two children and three grandkids.

SPANNING THE GLOBE
This week's installment of images of folks sporting TCU apparel or flashing the Frog Sign from all points worldwide comes from John Augustat, fly fishing last month in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Please send me (delconte@tcu.edu) any photos you would like to share.

COMPLIANCE CORNER
As the popularity of social networking websites continues to climb, so does the potential for a violation of NCAA legislation. While it is permissible for coaches to communicate with prospects via social networking websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), it is not permissible for coaches to publicize the recruitment of a particular prospect. For example, a coach may not post the names of prospects they are recruiting on a social networking website. In addition, it is not permissible for a coach to publicize a prospect's visit to campus. For example, it would not be permissible to post the following message on a coach's Twitter page: "Our top recruit, Free Throw, was on campus this weekend." NCAA legislation does allow coaches to communicate with prospects via the email feature of the social networking website, provided the message is sent only between the coach and the prospect, not for public viewing. Communication with a prospect that can be seen by the public (e.g., Twitter "@replies" or message boards) is impermissible and constitutes an impermissible form of electronic communication with a prospect. While it is permissible for coaches to communicate with prospects via social networking websites, boosters may not contact a prospect via any means of communication (e.g., social networking websites, chat rooms, message boards, blogs). Boosters may not initiate contact with a prospect for any reason (e.g., encourage prospect to attend a specific institution, encourage prospect to take a recruiting visit to campus). Impermissible contact with a prospect by a booster would result in a NCAA violation and could impact the booster's relationship with the institution.

KEEP IN TOUCH
Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.

Go Frogs!

Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

KEEP AN EYE ON THE MAILBOX
We have an Aug. 10 target date to begin mailing season football tickets for our debut campaign in the Big 12. The season and home opener is Sept. 8 versus Grambling State.

ROAD GAME TICKET UPDATE
Allocations should be completed the first week of August for tickets to our road football games this season. Tickets will then be shipped once they arrive from each school. These tickets will not be included in your season ticket packet. Due to demand and limited availability, it appears the SMU and Texas games are over requested and will be distributed according to rank within the Horned Frog Priority Points System.

PRIORITY POINTS UPDATE
You should have received an email Tuesday with information regarding your updated Horned Frog Priority Points. Please call Dan Riester in our athletics ticket office at (817) 257-6723 with any questions.

FROG CLUB MEMBERSHIP SURVEY
Later this week, the Frog Club will be distributing an online survey via email to all our athletics donors. We ask that you please take a few moments to answer the questions. All responses will be anonymous. Your feedback is very important and will help us better serve our incredible donor base.

THURSDAY IS VIRTUAL DAY
Austin Price, our social media guru, and our marketing team have been working on a "Virtual Day" as one of our Big 12 Days of Summer. We would like you to join us Thursday at 2 p.m. as we team with Google+ to use their video chat software known as Google+ Hangouts to administer this event. You can watch on our YouTube page. Please join me, TCU director of major gifts/color analyst/former kickoff specialist extraordinaire John Denton, men's tennis coach David Roditi and Wendell Barnhouse of Big12Sports.com as we talk about our new membership in the Big 12 and what's on tap for the Horned Frogs this year.

BIG 12 DAYS OF SUMMER
From the Big 12 Countdown in Cowtown celebration at Billy Bob's Texas to our July 1 unveiling of Big 12-themed TCU merchandise at the TCU Barnes & Noble Bookstore and last week's Dave Campbell's Texas Football book signing with Gary Patterson and Dave Campbell, we have had three events already in our Big 12 Days of Summer. Next on tap will be Thursday's Google+ Hangout and Friday's Chick-fil-A Day. The Chick-fil-A stores at Montgomery Plaza and on Hulen will provide a free original sandwich or eight-piece nuggets for anyone wearing TCU-Big 12 apparel. Make sure to drop by the TCU Barnes & Noble, The Varsity or Flash to pick up your TCU-Big 12 merchandise.

BIG 12 MEDIA DAY
Our first official activity as a Big 12 member was Monday at Big 12 Football Media Day in Dallas. Head Coach Gary Patterson and student-athletes Blaize Foltz, Ross Forrest,Stansly Maponga and Casey Pachall represented us. Click here to recap the day with video, photos and quotes.

LET'S TALK
Please mark your calendar for Friday at 3 p.m. as we'll have our next on-line chat on GoFrogs.com. These are always fun for me to do, so get your questions ready. We'll talk about whatever is on your mind.

SPANNING THE GLOBE
This week's installment of images of folks sporting TCU apparel or flashing the Frog Sign from all points worldwide comes from John Couig, who received his MBA from TCU in 1996. John's wife, Susan, took the below photo in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France, at the church where the 82nd Airborne Paratrooper, played by Red Buttons in The Longest Day, got stuck during D-Day. You can see the replica of him hanging from the church in the background.

COMPLIANCE CORNER
During a prospect's visit to campus (official or unofficial), he/she may participate in physical workouts or other recreational activities, provided the activities are not organized or observed by members of the athletics department coaching staff and are not designed to test the athletics abilities of the prospect. Recently, the NCAA issued an interpretation which states that during an official or unofficial visit, a prospect may participate in recreational activities in a facility that is not open to the general public (e.g., campus recreation center, golf course, swimming pool), provided the activities are not organized or observed by members of the athletics department coaching staff (including strength and conditioning coaches) and are not designed to test the athletics abilities of the prospect. Remember to always ask before you act. If you ever have any questions, please contact our NCAA Compliance office at (817) 257-7525.

KEEP IN TOUCH
Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte




Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

FROG CLUB ON THE RISE

I was thrilled to see our development staff report a record high in both annual giving and TCU Frog Club members this past year. The Frog Club raised $9,241,468 in annual gifts with 7,178 members to be exact! The overall total for athletics giving was $38,628,759. These numbers are very significant and exemplify the incredible support our alumni, fans and friends are showing our student-athletes. For those of you wondering, the previous record for annual giving was $5.1 million with a previous membership high of 4,769. Both marks were set in 2010-11.

COUNTDOWN ON: 52 DAYS UNTIL KICKOFF

We are less than two months away from opening our new Amon G. Carter Stadium against Grambling State on Sept. 8. If you have not secured season parking, please make sure to call the Frog Club at (817) 257-7700. We have introduced new parking options this year that are sure to enhance your overall game day experience on campus. For example, the LaDainian Tomlinson Lot (also known as the Freshman Lot) is now available for the first time ever. You cannot get any closer to the stadium than that!

BIG 12 MEDIA DAY
Another sign of football season being around the corner is when conferences hold their Media Day. Our first trip to Big 12 Media Day is Monday. We'll share the stage with Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. The other five institutions have their turn on Tuesday. Both our website (www.GoFrogs.com) and the Big 12's (www.Big12sports.com) will be great resources to follow the day's activities.

FROM THE HARD HATS
It's more of the same for us on the construction side at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The crews are working hard and making great progress in getting things finished. We're still on track for our Aug. 1 goal of moving in the west side furniture.

GREAT HONORS
Please join me in congratulating former TCU men's basketball standout James Cash on the latest honor in his incredible career. Dr. Cash received the Pioneer Award from the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation. The Pioneer Award is presented to individuals who accomplished minority `firsts' in athletics. Cash, who lettered from 1967-69, became the first African-American men's basketball student-athlete to earn a scholarship and play in the Southwest Conference.

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING
With another school year just around the corner, make sure to visit our online store (http://shop.gofrogs.com/) or one of our great retail outlets, Flash, The Varsity or TCU Barnes and Noble, to pick up the latest in Horned Frog apparel for you or your family members.

SPANNING THE GLOBE
This week's edition of TCU images from around the world comes from H. Rhea Chafin. He had the privilege of touring the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, and said it was the second-most beautiful construction in the world, behind only the renovated Amon G. Carter Stadium.

COMPLIANCE CORNER
There are periodic headlines in national media reports regarding agents having impermissible relationships with student-athletes. The actions of an agent are governed by the professional players' associations (NFLPA, MLBPA, etc.). The Attorney General in many states is also weighing in on the Agent situation in relation to collegiate athletics. The NCAA rules primarily outline what a student-athlete may do in relation to an agent. A prospective or enrolled student-athlete jeopardizes their amateur status and becomes ineligible for intercollegiate athletics if they have agreed either orally or in writing to retain an agent for the purpose of marketing their athletic ability or reputation in that sport. An agent may not provide a benefit of any kind (i.e. cash, other gifts or services) to enrolled or prospective student-athletes or their relatives or friends without jeopardizing their amateur status. Remember, always ask before you act! Please feel free to contact our Athletics Compliance Office at (817) 257-7525.

KEEP IN TOUCH
Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte




Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

SEASON TICKET WAIT LIST
For those of you currently on the 2012 football season ticket wait list, your patience will soon pay off as we anticipate being able to allocate additional seats in the very near future. Be on the lookout for follow-up information from our ticket office.

PARKING PASS PICK-UP PARTIES 
One of the true signs that football season is around the corner is when reserved parking passes are ready for pick up. Please mark Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 8-9, on your calendar. Our parking pass pick-up parties will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the Dee J. Kelly Alumni & Visitors Center. We do have a limited amount of reserved parking passes still available. Please call our Frog Club office at (817) 257-7700 for more information.

KICKOFF TIMES ALMOST SET
A popular question we receive relates to kickoff times for our football games this season. We'll soon have the times for our first three contests. After that, per the Big 12 television contract with its broadcast partners, the times are not required to be set until a 12-day window prior to game day.

BOOK SIGNING 
Please mark your calendar for Thursday, July 19, from 5 to 6 p.m. The location is TBA. We'll have a book signing in which front cover subject Gary Patterson will join Dave Campbell to autograph your copy of this summer's edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football. 

FROM THE HARD HATS
It's move-in time in the Walsh Complex. Our football team is starting to occupy its new locker room. We're still in the process of finalizing our graphics package to give the facility a true TCU feel. Our sports medicine and equipment staffs have also arrived in their new home. It would be an understatement to say we have a lot of work going on in different areas of Amon G. Carter Stadium. The last batch of seating is being installed, while final paint and finish out is ongoing in the club and suites. Lots 1 and 2 are undergoing a repaving to make them available for parking this fall.

SOCIAL MEDIA CALL TO ACTION
If you utilize Facebook and Twitter but are not currently following TCU Athletics, the TCU Frog Club or specific TCU sports programs, I strongly encourage you to do so. These platforms help us tell the incredible stories of our student-athletes and by "liking" or "following" us, you are supporting our programs and helping us reach new fans and potential donors. Please continue to share these stories and updates with your friends and family!

TCU Athletics Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TCUAthletics

TCU Athletics Twitter page: @TCUAthletics

Frog Club Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TCUFrogClub

Frog Club Twitter page: @TCUFrogClub 

The following link provides a comprehensive look at all our social media outlets: click here. 

SPANNING THE GLOBE
Our latest installment of images of TCU alumni and fans sporting Horned Frog apparel across the world comes from TCU graduate Lynn R. Ditto on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trail. Please continue to email me (delconte@tcu.edu) photos of you, your family or friends sporting TCU gear or flashing the Frog sign from any destination.

COMPLIANCE CORNER
Member institutions shall make general academic counseling and tutoring services available to all student-athletes. These services can be provided by the athletics department or the institution's non-athletics student support services. In addition, an institution may finance other academic and support services that the institution, at its discretion, determines to be appropriate and necessary for the academic success of its student-athletes. An institution is able to provide support services but they must not cross the line into allowing it to be an extra benefit. An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete's relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their relatives or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution's students or their relatives or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., international students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability. Remember to ask before you act! Please contact our NCAA Compliance office (817-257-7525) with any questions.

KEEP IN TOUCH
Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.  

Go Frogs!

Christopher M. Del Conte 
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

BIG 12 COUNTDOWN IN COWTOWN 
How great was Saturday night in the Stockyards! A very special thank you to the nearly 1,000 Horned Frog faithful who joined us and to Billy Bob's Texas for hosting us. We are also most appreciative of Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and his staff from the Big 12 office for their attendance. It was truly a magical evening. Drew Martin, our new assistant athletics director for marketing and licensing, and his staff were outstanding in the organization of this event. In case you missed our videos previewing and recapping the Big 12 Countdown in Cowtown, please see the following link: VIDEO LINK. We can now officially say, "We are in the Big 12!" 

SHOPPING BIG 12 
Make sure to visit our online store CLICK HERE or one of our great retail outlets, Flash, The Varsity or TCU Barnes and Noble, to pick up your officially licensed TCU-Big 12 merchandise. It's great to see a lot of you already sporting the apparel. Fort Worth is now a Big 12 city, and we take pride in being the Metroplex's hometown Big 12 team. 

FROG CLUB MEMBERSHIP SURVEY 
In the coming weeks, current Frog Club members will be emailed a short online survey. Please take a few moments to complete the survey and provide us your feedback. This input is incredibly valuable to us as we strive to enhance the overall donor experience for you here at TCU.  

NEW-LOOK GOFROGS.COM 
We appreciate the positive comments from many of you about our new-look GoFrogs.com. A lot of time and effort goes into the redesign process. Matt Hoover, our assistant director of media relations, was the point person on this six-month project and is to be commended for his terrific work. 

IN THE CLASSROOM 
The academic honors continue to roll in for former track and field student-athlete Jack O'Brien. Just one week after being named an Academic All-American, he has now received a postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA. That will definitely come in good use as Jack begins studies this fall at UT Southwestern Medical School. 

OLYMPIC WATCH 
We have another Horned Frog headed to the 2012 Olympics. Congratulations to Justyn Warner who will represent Canada in the 100 meters. He joins former TCU 800-meter standout Khadevis Robinson, rifle's Sarah Scherer and 1972 TCU graduate and United States men's swimming coach Gregg Troy as our Horned Frog representation in London. 

FALL SPORTS NEARING 
While our football season tickets are sold out, we do have packages available for our soccer and volleyball programs at the following links: SOCCER CLICK HERE |VOLLEYBALL CLICK HERE. Both programs ranked among the national leaders in attendance last year and will be playing in front of packed houses again this fall in their Big 12 debut seasons. 

SPANNING THE GLOBE 
It's been fun receiving images of people wearing TCU apparel and flashing the Frog sign from all points worldwide. Keep `em coming. This week's photo is from Scott Black. It's his son, Colin, giving TCU exposure with his shirt and Frog sign at Big Ben in London. Colin and his 14-year-old sister have gone to every home football game since birth. Please email (delconte@tcu.edu) images you'd like to share in future blogs. 

COMPLIANCE CORNER 
Here are the recruiting periods defined: 

• A contact period is a period of time when it is permissible for authorized athletics department staff members to make in-person, off-campusrecruiting contacts and evaluations. 

• An evaluation period is a period of time when it is permissible for authorized athletics department staff members to be involved in off-campus activities designed to assess the academic qualifications and playing ability of prospective student-athletes. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts shall be made with the prospective student-athlete during an evaluation period. 

• A quiet period is a period of time when it is permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts only on the institution's campus. No in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts or evaluations may be made during the quiet period. 

• A dead period is a period of time when it is not permissible to make in-person recruiting contacts or evaluations on or off the institution's campus or to permit official or unofficial visits by prospective student-athletes to the institution's campus. The provision of complimentary admissions to a prospective student-athlete during a dead period is prohibited, except as provided in Bylaw 13.7.2.5 for a prospective student-athlete who visits an institution as part of a group. During a dead period, a coaching staff member may not serve as a speaker at or attend a meeting or banquet at which prospective student-athletes are in attendance, except as provided inBylaw 13.1.8.1, and may not visit a prospective student-athlete's educational institution. It remains permissible, however, for an institutional staff member to write or telephone a prospective student-athlete during a dead period.  

Remember to always ask before you act. If you ever have any questions, please contact our NCAA Compliance office at (817) 257-7525.  

KEEP IN TOUCH 
Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.














  

Go Frogs!












 

Christopher M. Del Conte





Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

BIG 12 WELCOME PARTY

We hope to see you Saturday night as we celebrate our new membership in the Big 12 Conference with a special midnight party in Rodeo Plaza in front of Billy Bob's Texas in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. Our program will start at 11:45 p.m. as we begin a countdown to midnight, July 1, when our entrance into the Big 12 becomes official. Gary Patterson and many of his fellow head coaches will be there, along with Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and representatives from the city of Fort Worth. We'll also have our cheerleaders, Showgirls, SuperFrog and the Frog Horn on hand. The evening will also provide an opportunity to purchase co-branded TCU and Big 12 merchandise.

SPECIAL GUESTS

As part of the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Convention in Dallas this week, many of our colleagues from across the country have been visiting campus. They've been very impressed with Amon G. Carter Stadium, our athletics facilities and TCU in general. If you're on campus and see folks from other schools walking around, please make a point to introduce yourself and welcome them to TCU.

OLYMPIC HOPEFULS

Between current and former student-athletes, we're in line to be well represented in London at this summer's Olympic Games. Already earning a spot is rifle's Sarah Scherer (United States) and former track and field standout Khadevis Robinson (800 meters, United States). Several other Horned Frogs are involved in Olympic trials this week with their respective sports and countries. The USA men's swimming team is coached by 1972 TCU graduate Gregg Troy. Gregg is also the head coach at the University of Florida.

SETTING THE STANDARD

A tip of the cap to medical school bound Jack O'Brien on his selection as a third-team Academic All-American. Jack has represented our track and field program and TCU with class during his time on campus. Jack has the highest MCAT score, under the current system, on record at TCU.

WOMEN'S CLINIC SET

It's that time of year again. The annual TCU Football Women's Clinic, which is always a sellout, will be Thursday, July 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the Moncrief Club. Please mark your calendar. More information, including links to register, will be available soon on our website (www.GoFrogs.com).

2012 HALL OF FAME CLASS ANNOUNCED

Congratulations to this year's TCU Lettermen's Association Hall of Fame class: Dywana Crudup '00 (women's track and field), Marshall K. Harris `79 (football), H.E. Kirchner '59 (men's basketball), Max Knake `95 (football), Scott Malone `92 (baseball), Jordan Reynolds `92 (football/track and field) and LaDainian Tomlinson `00 (football). H.E. Kirchner will be inducted posthumously, while LT was originally voted into the Hall of Fame in 2010 but opted to set his induction when he retired from the NFL. The induction ceremony is Thursday, Oct. 4, in the Brown-Lupton University Union. For more information, please contact the TCU Lettermen's Association at (817) 257-5471.

FROM THE HARD HATS

All is moving forward at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The crews are working around the clock, making great progress and on schedule to have everything finished before our Sept. 8 season opener with Grambling State. Seats are installing on the east side, while parking lots are being repaved. Everything is also nearing completion in the Walsh Complex as our equipment and sports medicine staffs are just weeks away from their move-in dates. Another round of seat replacements is underway in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. The DMC floor is also being refinished to include the Big 12 logos.

SPANNING THE GLOBE

Our latest installment of images of TCU alumni and fans sporting Horned Frog apparel across the world comes from Mike Rangel on the Great Wall of China. Please email (delconte@tcu.edu) photos of you, your family or friends sporting TCU gear or flashing the Frog sign from any destination.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

During a prospect's visit to campus (official or unofficial), he/she may participate in physical workouts or other recreational activities, provided the activities are not organized or observed by members of the athletics department coaching staff and are not designed to test the athletics abilities of the prospect. Recently, the NCAA issued an interpretation which states that during an official or unofficial visit, a prospect may participate in recreational activities in a facility that is not open to the general public (e.g., campus recreation center, golf course, swimming pool), provided the activities are not organized or observed by members of the athletics department coaching staff (including strength and conditioning coaches) and are not designed to test the athletics abilities of the prospect.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!













Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

BIG 12 WELCOME PARTY

Everyone is invited to a special midnight party on Saturday, June 30, in Rodeo Plaza in front of Billy Bob's Texas in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards to celebrate our official entrance into the Big 12 Conference. Special guests from TCU, the Big 12 and Fort Worth will be present, including our sprit groups and the Frog Horn. Our program will start at 11:45 p.m. as we begin a countdown to midnight, July 1, and our official entrance into the Big 12. This will also be the first opportunity to purchase co-branded TCU and Big 12 merchandise. We'll follow this kickoff with smaller community events and appearances throughout July and August.

COVER MODEL

How about Gary Patterson being featured on the cover of this summer's edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football! It's a tremendous honor for Coach, our football program and all of TCU to receive this type of recognition and exposure. Check newsstands Thursday when the issue is due to hit shelves.

HAPPY RETIREMENT

Congratulations to LaDainian Tomlinson and best wishes to him on his retirement from the NFL! He has truly represented himself, his family and TCU with class. We are very proud of LT and look forward to continuing a great relationship with him. He'll be back on campus this week with his annual youth football academy. We'll also make sure he has a copy of our football schedule to hopefully have him at Amon G. Carter Stadium for as many games as possible this fall.

NEW LOOK FOR FROG CLUB

Our rebranding efforts continue across the board in our department. In case you missed its Monday release via Facebook and Twitter, included below is our new Frog Club logo.

IN THE CLASSROOM

It was rewarding to see 68 of our student-athletes named to the Academic All-Mountain West Team for the spring semester. We also had 55 student-athletes tabbed MW Scholar-Athletes for posting a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.5.

FROM THE HARD HATS

The Austin Commercial crew is busy getting ready to repave Lots 1 and 2 at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Final finishes are going in at the club and suite levels, while equipment arrives daily for the concession stands. The press box is taking shape with the walls, windows and railings being installed. The officials' locker room was enhanced Tuesday with an original piece of artwork. Ron Murphy was a longtime Southwest Conference football official who draws cartoons for various referee publications. As a favor to his longtime friend and TCU associate athletics director Ross Bailey, Ron produced the below piece for the officials' locker room. The relationship between Ross and Ron began when Ross was our head athletics trainer and helped take care of the men in stripes.

The light at the end of the tunnel is glowing brighter and brighter at the Walsh Complex. Final clean-up crews are busy in the sports medicine area. Our new lockers in the football locker room will be spotlighted for administrators nationally at next week's NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Convention in Dallas. Our team of director of football operations Mike Sinquefield, director of equipment services Matt Lewis and Ross Bailey, along with final touches from head coach Gary Patterson, put 90 years of experience together into what we believe might be the best athletic locker ever designed. Everything is on track for a July 16 move in for our sports medicine and equipment staffs.

SPANNING THE GLOBE

My new favorite weekly feature is sharing photos of the TCU Nation sporting TCU apparel or flashing the Horned Frog sign from locales worldwide. Pictured below (from right to left) are Jerry Graves, TCU graduate school from 1976-78, and son Brian Graves at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland. They are by the monument on Hole #6, called Hogan's Alley, honoring Ben Hogan for his 1953 British Open Championship. Please email (delconte@tcu.edu) images you'd like to share in future blogs.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

Unethical conduct by a prospective or enrolled student-athlete or a current or former institutional staff member (e.g., coach, professor, tutor, teaching assistant, student manager, student trainer) may include, but is not limited to, the following:

(a.) Refusal to furnish information relevant to an investigation of a possible violation of an NCAA regulation when requested to do so by the NCAA or the individual's institution;

(b.) Knowing involvement in arranging for fraudulent academic credit or false transcripts for a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete;

(c.) Knowing involvement in offering or providing a prospective or an enrolled student-athlete an improper inducement or extra benefit or improper financial aid;

(d.) Knowingly furnishing the NCAA or the individual's institution false or misleading information concerning the individual's involvement in or knowledge of matters relevant to a possible violation of an NCAA regulation; or

(e.) Receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor or a representative of an agent or advisor (e.g., "runner");

(f.) Knowing involvement in providing a banned substance or impermissible supplement to student-athletes, or knowingly providing medications to student-athletes contrary to medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care in sports medicine practice, or state and federal law. This provision shall not apply to banned substances for which the student-athlete has received a medical exception per Bylaw 31.2.3.4; however, the substance must be provided in accordance with medical licensure, commonly accepted standards of care and state or federal law;

(g.) Failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA, the NCAA Eligibility Center or an institution's admissions office regarding an individual's academic record (e.g., schools attended, completion of coursework, grades and test scores);

(h.) Fraudulence or misconduct in connection with entrance or placement examinations;

(i.) Engaging in any athletics competition under an assumed name or with intent to otherwise deceive; or

(j.) Failure to provide complete and accurate information to the NCAA, the NCAA Eligibility Center or the institution's athletics department regarding an individual's amateur status.

Remember to always ask before you act. If you ever have any questions, please contact our NCAA Compliance office at (817) 257-7525.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

NATIONAL CHAMPION AGAIN

How about Whitney Gipson winning another national championship in the long jump! Congratulations to a very special TCU graduate. Whitney received her degree in broadcast journalism last month and actually competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as an alumna. She also won the national title in the long jump at the indoor championships. It's now on to the Olympic trials for Whitney as she looks to secure her spot in London.

A GREAT YEAR

It's been a great year across the board for the Horned Frogs. We've totaled four national championships (rifle team, Sarah Scherer in smallbore, Whitney Gipson in the indoor and outdoor long jump) as well as tying a school record with six conference championships (baseball, football, women's golf, women's tennis, women's indoor and outdoor track and field) to go with 15 Mountain West individual champions, 21 All-America selections and one United States Olympian.

TAKING OVER L.A.

The TCU Nation made quite an impression supporting our baseball program at last weekend's Super Regional in Los Angeles. We very much appreciate everyone who helped "Purple Out" the stands at Jackie Robinson Stadium. It made us proud to receive comments from folks at UCLA on how impressed they were with our fan support, both in numbers and volume.

ON THE CONSTRUCTION FRONT

Great progress continues to be made everywhere and the end is truly near. Flooring and final wall finishes in the Walsh Complex are being installed. Within the month, we plan to move into our new football locker room, sports medicine center and equipment room. At Amon G. Carter Stadium, multiple shifts of craftsmen are in full production mode on the interior finish out. The east side concession stands and rest rooms are also progressing on time.

MARKETING THE FROGS

If you've been making your way around the Metroplex or just on the streets of Fort Worth, you might have noticed the first wave of our billboards and bus wraps. Our full blitz will be commencing shortly. As we mentioned last week, this year's football, soccer and volleyball posters have arrived. Please drop by our athletics ticket office in the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to pick them up. Our very popular trading cards for those sports will soon be arriving.

SPANNING THE GLOBE

The Horned Frog sign can always be seen worldwide. The below photo is from Mitchell Parks at the Roman Coliseum. Please send me (delconte@tcu.edu) any images you might have of yourself, family or friends sporting TCU apparel or flashing the Frog sign across the country or overseas.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

All coaches are required to provide all student-athletes with days off. The rule varies depending on whether the team is in season or out of season. During the playing season, all countable athletically related activities are prohibited during one calendar day per week. The exceptions to this are during participation in one conference and postseason championship, any postseason licensed bowl games, National Invitational Tournaments and during participation in NCAA championships. Coaches are not required to provide a day off during preseason practice that occurs prior to the first day of classes or first scheduled contest (whichever is earlier). A travel day may be considered a day off as long as no countable athletically-related activities occur.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

REGIONAL CHAMPS

Congratulations to head coach Jim Schlossnagle and our baseball program on a memorable weekend in College Station that made the entire TCU nation proud. It's a great testament to the resiliency of the Horned Frogs to win a regional on the road after dropping the first game. To eliminate Texas A&M on its home field and then beat Ole Miss on back-to-back nights says a lot about the caliber and character of our student-athletes.

GREAT SUPPORT

A special tip of the cap to all of you who made the trek to Texas A&M over the four days of baseball, especially the great crowd Monday night. It was special to hear the "TCU" chants resonating throughout the ballpark. You truly made a difference for our guys on the field. They fed off your energy. As a side note, it was rewarding to receive compliments on our fans from several employees at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park in College Station. You made an impression on folks with your friendliness and great support of the Horned Frogs. Thanks for representing us with class!

L.A. BOUND

Did you know behind the great state of Texas, we receive the second-most students from California? If you're a current student from the Golden State home for the summer or an alum in the SoCal area, please make a point to support our baseball program as it faces UCLA this weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. First pitch is 8 p.m. CDT for games Friday (ESPN) and Saturday (ESPN2). If necessary, a Sunday contest (ESPN2) would be at 9 p.m. CDT. This is a best-of-3 series for the right to go to Omaha and the College World Series. Through 5 p.m. today, we do have a limited number of tickets available through TCU. Please contact our athletics ticket office at (817) 257-FROG (3764) or drop by the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. You can also purchase tickets through UCLA at the following LINK or by calling (310) 825-2946.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK

Best wishes to Charles Silmon (100 meters), Cameron Parker (triple jump), Chaniqua Corinealdi (100 and 200 meters), Whitney Gipson (long jump) and Lorraine Ugen (long jump and 100 meters) as well as our men's and women's 4x100 and women's 4x400 relay teams as they begin competition today at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, IA.

POSTERS AVAILABLE

Please make sure to drop by our athletics ticket office in the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum to pick up our 2012 football and volleyball schedule posters. Soccer will be in soon as well.

CONGRATULATIONS

We have truly outstanding student-athletes at TCU, and it's great to see them be recognized. Freshman men's golfer Julien Brun, who tied for second at the NCAA Championships, was named a first-team PING All-American, while track and field's Whitney Gipson was tabbed the South Central Region Field Athlete of the Year.

FROM THE HARD HATS

Great progress continues to be made on all our construction projects. New windows are being installed for the football locker room in the Walsh Complex, while carpet and shelving work is taking place in the equipment room. The new floor for the sports medicine center will begin installation Thursday. Preparation of the east side rest rooms and concession stands is well underway at Amon G. Carter Stadium with equipment now arriving.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

Over the past several years, social media has continued to become more and more popular and prevalent in our daily lives. While the NCAA rules do not specifically address Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social media technology by name, there are regulations currently in place which do govern the actions of not only a member institution's coaching staff, but also the actions of their boosters.

Coaches and institutional staff members are permitted to "friend" or "follow" a prospective student-athlete via social media in certain instances, and they may also communicate with prospects using the private messaging functions so long as this is done in accordance with the rules that permit an institution to send general correspondence to a prospect via other forms of communication (e.g. regular mail or fax). Additionally, communicating with a prospect publicly on his or her wall, commenting on a post or "liking" a post remains impermissible until the prospect has signed a National Letter of Intent or an institution's written offer of admission and/or financial aid.

There are also NCAA regulations that govern boosters and their use of social networking websites when it comes to prospective student-athletes. It is NEVER permissible for a booster to initiate contact with a prospective student-athlete via the "friend" or "follow" functions on social media websites. Additionally, it is not permissible for a booster to post a comment on a prospective student-athlete's Twitter or Facebook page until he or she is no longer a prospective student-athlete. It has always been impermissible for boosters to engage in any contact or type of correspondence or communication with prospective student-athletes until they either officially report to campus for pre-season practice or until they enroll and attend classes at the particular institution (the sports of cross country, football, soccer and volleyball report to campus for pre-season practice prior to the start of classes for the fall semester). Once either of those events takes place, the prospective student-athlete is no longer a prospect, he or she then becomes a student-athlete.

The world of social media is ever-changing and extremely difficult to monitor so we ask for the supporters of TCU Athletics to remain vigilant and report any potential violations of these regulations to the Compliance office. We invite your questions, concerns and comments regarding the NCAA rules and regulations, as they can be complex and confusing at times. As always, ASK BEFORE YOU ACT!

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

BIG 12 MEETINGS

Greetings from Kansas City! I'm here at the Big 12 meetings with my colleagues from across our future conference home. We've gathered to discuss items relevant to our league. It's great to see the camaraderie shared by everyone and the genuine excitement for the Horned Frogs' entrance into the Big 12 effective July 1.

PRIORITY POINTS DEADLINE

As a reminder, TCU's fiscal year ends Thursday. This date is especially important because that's when we annually re-calculate Horned Frog Priority Points and rankings. If you haven't done so already, this is a great opportunity to make a parking gift. This will enable you to improve your June 1, 2012 priority points ranking that will not only affect road and bowl game ticket allocation for the upcoming football season, but also impact 2013 football seating at Amon G. Carter Stadium. All requests for seating upgrades during the season ticket renewal period will be based on your priority points system ranking. Please make sure your gifts are in before Thursday's deadline and call the Frog Club office at (817) 257-7700 if you have any questions.

PROMO MATERIALS COMING

Be on the lookout soon for our football poster, trading cards and other promotional elements for the 2012 season. You might have even noticed the first wave of our bus wraps that are making the rounds in Fort Worth.

COLLEGE STATION BOUND

Congratulations to our baseball program on its ninth straight trip to the postseason! We'll begin play Friday at 12:35 p.m. as a No. 2 seed versus No. 3 Ole Miss at the College Station Regional. Host and top-seed Texas A&M and No. 4 Dayton round out the field. If you can't make the trip to College Station, all the games will be televised online on ESPN3 as well as being carried on KTCU 88.7 FM.

HITTING THE LINKS

Our men's golf program began play Tuesday at the NCAA Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif. It's our third trip in the last four years to the national tourney. All the action can be followed online at http://www.ncaa.com/content/di-mens-golf-team-leaderboard.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

As the popularity of social networking websites continues to climb, so does the potential for a violation of NCAA legislation. While it is permissible for coaches to communicate with prospects via social networking websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter), it is not permissible for coaches to publicize the recruitment of a particular prospect. For example, a coach may not post the names of prospects they are recruiting on a social networking website. In addition, it is not permissible for a coach to publicize a prospect's visit to campus. For example, it would not be permissible to post the following message on a coach's Twitter page: "Our top recruit, Free Throw, was on campus this weekend." NCAA legislation does allow coaches to communicate with prospects via the e-mail feature of the social networking website, provided the message is sent only between the coach and the prospect, not for public viewing. Communication with a prospect that can be seen by the public (e.g., Twitter "@replies" or message boards) is impermissible and constitutes an impermissible form of electronic communication with a prospect. While it is permissible for coaches to communicate with prospects via social networking websites, boosters may not contact a prospect via any means of communication (e.g., social networking websites, chat rooms, message boards, blogs). Boosters may not initiate contact with a prospect for any reason (e.g., encourage prospect to attend a specific institution, encourage prospect to take a recruiting visit to campus). Impermissible contact with a prospect by a booster would result in a NCAA violation and could impact the booster's relationship with the institution.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

CURRENT AND FUTURE HOMES

While there's obviously great excitement regarding our upcoming move to the Big 12, let's not forget we still have approximately five weeks left as a proud member of the Mountain West. We are eternally grateful to MW commissioner Craig Thompson for being so instrumental in allowing us an opportunity to join the league and call it home for seven years. The Mountain West has truly helped elevate our programs and we will always have great memories of our time in the league.

DONOR PARKING

If you're on the donor parking wait list for home football games this fall, you'll soon be hearing from our Frog Club office. Please contact them at (817) 257-7700 with any questions.

CHAMPIONS BOWL

I'm sure you've seen the great news regarding the new five-year agreement for the champions of the Big 12 and SEC to annually meet in a bowl game starting with the 2014 season. If one or both of these champions play in the new four-team model to determine the national championship, another deserving team from the conference(s) would be selected for the game. This is just another sign of the momentum in the Big 12. It was also outstanding to see the strong national interest generated in the announcement of the game.

PURPLE IS HOT

Another great testament to the growing pride in wearing purple and the strength of the TCU brand is the threshold amount we have again reached in our agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company. We've surpassed the minimum amount in gross royalties for two consecutive years, triggering a clause in our contract that allows us to renegotiate more favorable revenue splits with CLC. This will only get stronger with the added exposure provided by our entrance into the Big 12.

ANOTHER CHAMPION!

Congratulations to our baseball program on its co-Mountain West championship. That makes it seven titles in seven years for baseball in the league. We won the outright championship our first six seasons in the MW before tying for the regular-season title this spring.

FROM THE LINKS

A special tip of the cap goes to men's golf on its strong performance this past weekend at the Ann Arbor Regional, allowing us to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the third time in the last four seasons. If you're in the Los Angeles area, please make a point to check out the Horned Frogs as they'll begin play Tuesday at historic Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

STAT OF THE DAY

Our six Mountain West team championships in the 2011-12 athletics year ties a single-season school record set in 2009-10. In addition to those team titles, we also produced 29 individual conference championships this year as well as a national title in rifle.

IT'S A SLEEPOVER

How about the number of tents and sleeping bags blanketing the outfield grass this past Saturday night for our annual sleepover at Lupton Stadium! We set a new record with 394 overnight campers, breaking our previous mark of 250 from last year.

LET'S TALK

I hope you can join me Friday at 3 p.m. CDT for our next online chat on GoFrogs.com. Our website provides an opportunity for you to submit questions in advance. These chats are always fun for me to do, and I hope you enjoy them as well. We'll cover whatever topics are on your mind.

ON THE DOCKET

Our baseball program begins play Thursday at the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas. First pitch is 5 p.m. CDT for our opener versus San Diego State. Each game of the tournament will be televised live on The Mtn. Track and field begins its postseason competition Thursday in Austin at the NCAA West Preliminary Round.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

Member institutions shall make general academic counseling and tutoring services available to all student-athletes through the athletics department or an institution's non-athletics student support services. In addition, an institution may finance other academic and support services that the institution, at its discretion, determines to be appropriate and necessary for the academic success of its student-athletes. An institution is able to provide support services but they must not cross the line into allowing it to be an extra benefit. An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete's relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their relatives or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution's students or their relatives or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., international students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability. Remember to ask before you act! Please contact our NCAA Compliance office (817-257-7525) with any questions.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.
















Go Frogs!














Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

IT'S A SELLOUT

As of this morning, we are officially sold out of season tickets for the 2012 football campaign. We are so proud of the TCU faithful! The new record-breaking total is 30,000 season tickets sold. Our nine-week renewal and reseating process officially ended last week with just over 24,200 seats sold. When combined with our suite and club seat sales from the fall, our season ticket number was 28,300. We then kicked off sales this week to the 1,400 individuals on our season ticket waiting list. This group purchased season seats in our "Frog Zone GA" area located in the South End Zone.

We apologize to those of you remaining on the waiting list. Please know our goal is to continue accommodating as many TCU fans as possible throughout this process. There is a strong possibility that a limited number of additional seats will become available after seats are physically installed and verified later this summer. If so, we will contact fans on our waiting list via email with specific instructions on how to secure seats. The TCU Athletics Ticket Office will assign these seats based on the priority levels mentioned previously. In fairness to the current season-ticket holders who were not able to choose any of the seats that might later become available, these seats will NOT be sold as season tickets. They will be assigned on a one-year basis and sold at the six game face-value price of $325 each. Although you will not be able to renew the exact seat locations, you will be guaranteed the option to purchase the same quantity of season tickets in 2013.

It's a great time to be a Horned Frog!

PRIORITY POINTS DEADLINE

As you may know, TCU's fiscal year ends May 31. This date is especially important because that's when we annually re-calculate Horned Frog Priority Points and rankings. Your June 1, 2012 priority points ranking will not only affect road and bowl game ticket allocation for the upcoming football season, it will also impact 2013 football seating at Amon G. Carter Stadium. All requests for seating upgrades during the season ticket renewal period will be based on your priority points system ranking. Please make sure your gifts are in before the May 31 deadline and call the Frog Club office at (817) 257-7700 if you have any questions.

ANOTHER CHAMPION!

Congratulations to our women's outdoor track and field program on its Mountain West championship this past weekend in Colorado Springs. That makes it five MW championships (football, women's golf, women's tennis and women's indoor and outdoor track and field) thus far in 2011-12. With baseball this weekend, we have an opportunity to tie a single-season school record with six MW titles. Congratulations to our 11 student-athletes who collected championship honors and to Darryl Anderson on being named the MW Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year. Darryl received similar accolades during the indoor season.

TIP OF THE CAP

How about Jack O'Brien from our men's track and field program! In addition to graduating with honors, he also recorded the highest MCAT score, under the current system, on record at TCU. Talk about a true student-athlete! Best wishes to Jack as he now heads to UT Southwestern Medical School.

FROM THE HARD HATS

In addition to everything you can't miss in and around Amon G. Carter Stadium, our conversion to the Big 12 is well underway in other venues. We are completing work on the floor refinishing for the Schollmaier Basketball Complex and the volleyball court in the Rec Center. New TCU logos, our Nike font and Big 12 logos are being applied. Work also continues on the Walsh Complex locker room project with a July 15 projected finish. Stadium work with interior finishing, cabinet work and some final concrete pours are also underway.

STAT OF THE DAY

Did you know we're one of just six schools to be ranked in the final top 15 of the Associated Press college football poll as well as the top 20 in the current Baseball America poll? The others are Baylor, LSU, Oregon, South Carolina and Stanford.

ON THE DOCKET

Fresh off our 1-0 win at Oklahoma last night, our baseball program has a big weekend at Lupton Stadium as we close regular-season play with a three-game series versus San Diego State. It's an opportunity to win our seventh straight outright Mountain West championship, representing every year in the league. First pitch is 6:30 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Make sure to be there early Sunday as we recognize our senior class in a pre-game ceremony. The MW Tournament is next week in Las Vegas. Our men's golf program will be making its 23rd consecutive postseason appearance, the longest streak for any of our athletics teams, when it begins play Thursday at the NCAA Regional in Ann Arbor, Mich.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

If a student-athlete's name or picture appears on commercial items (e.g., t-shirts, sweatshirts, playing cards, posters, photographs) or is used to promote a commercial product sold by an individual or agency without the student-athlete's knowledge or permission, the student-athlete (or the institution acting on behalf of the student-athlete) is required to take steps to stop such an activity in order to retain his or her eligibility for intercollegiate athletics. A student-athlete will lose his/her eligibility for participation in intercollegiate athletics if the individual: (a.) Permits the use of his or her name or picture to advertise, recommend or promote directly the sale or use of a commercial product or service of any kind regardless of whether any compensation was received; or (b.) Receives remuneration for endorsing a commercial product or service through the individual's use of such product or service.

SEASON TICKET UPDATE

Congratulations to the Horned Frog nation for truly showing its passion for TCU by allowing us to sell out of reserved football season tickets for the first time in program history. We do have plenty of general admission season tickets remaining. Today is the final day of our reseating of Amon G. Carter Stadium. We'll then go to our waiting list of approximately 1,400 individuals. An email will be distributed Thursday to everyone explaining the process. There are three different groups within the waiting list. Group 1 constitutes those who were season-ticket holders in the past or Frog Club members who are not currently season-ticket holders. If this includes you, please keep an eye out for an email Friday that will provide your selection day and time for next week. We can't thank you enough for your patience and understanding as we worked through this once-in-a-lifetime reseating process. We'll be tallying up the final numbers and have our new official record-breaking season-ticket total ready to announce next week.

PARKING AVAILABLE

We have a very limited number of donor parking spaces for home football games still available. If you're interested, please call our Frog Club office immediately at (817) 257-7700.

WELCOME COMMISSIONER BOWLSBY

I'm sure you saw the great news from Friday that Bob Bowlsby will be the Big 12's new commissioner. I've known and admired Bob for a long time, and he's a perfect fit for the Big 12. He's highly respected throughout the country and brings outstanding leadership to our league. I'm very much looking forward to working with Bob and seeing him continue the momentum established by acting commissioner Chuck Neinas. Bob has an incredible pulse on the ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics. There is no better person than Bob Bowlsby to guide the Big 12 Conference into an exciting new era.

NEW LOGO

While the Frog is still a part of our brand, we are utilizing just the arched TCU (image below) as our primary athletics logo and mark. We will also be debuting a deeper shade of purple this fall. In the past, we heard from many of you who said it appeared our uniforms and helmets looked bluish on TV. For over a year, we worked in conjunction with Nike on this new look. Rest assured, though, you'll still see the arched TCU and Frog this fall.

ANOTHER CHAMPION!

Congratulations to men's golfer Johan de Beer on capturing the Mountain West individual championship in Tucson, Ariz., this past weekend. Combined with Sanna Nuutinen, we have the MW medalist in both men's and women's golf this spring. Our men's and women's golf programs also have our longest current streaks of consecutive postseason appearances. The men will be making their 23rd straight trip to the NCAA Regionals, while the women are in their 17th straight postseason.

CONGRATULATIONS!

A special tip of the TCU cap and congratulations to TCU and Fort Worth treasure Dan Jenkins on his Monday night induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla. If you saw his acceptance speech Monday night on Golf Channel, he was Dead Solid Perfect with it.

FROM THE HARD HATS

The trademark 100-ton crane at Amon G. Carter Stadium is gone. This is a significant milestone as it provides confirmation that the super structure work on the east side is finished. We have an Aug. 1 completion set for the west side with a Sept. 1 date for the east side. We're also still on target for a July 15 completion of the Walsh Complex which will feature our new sports medicine center, equipment room and football locker room.

MEET Trent Johnson

We hope to see you Monday at 5:30 p.m. for an opportunity to meet and visit with new men's basketball coach Trent Johnson on the lawn outside the Kelly Center. Please register at the followingLINK. Please also mark your calendar for a meet-and-greet with new soccer coach Eric Bell on Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m. in the Moncrief Club.

GRADUATION NEARING

We're halfway through final exam week as we work towards our special day on Saturday when 71 student-athletes will graduate. Included in that total are student-athletes from baseball, women's golf, women's tennis and men's and women's outdoor track, who will actually miss Saturday's commencement while being on the road with their respective teams. One of the many things that make TCU special is how our Chancellor and Provost annually hold a special graduation ceremony for our student-athletes, and their families, who miss commencement because of athletics competition. This year's follow-up ceremony will be Monday at 11 a.m. in the Moncrief Club.

COMING HOME

We're excited to again be the host of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. The game will be hosting a reception Thursday to celebrate its 10th anniversary and return to Amon G. Carter Stadium after a two-year hiatus because of our renovations.

SPECIAL GUESTS

We had some special guests on campus yesterday as we hosted the annual meeting of the equipment managers from each of the Big 12 institutions. Led by our own Matt Lewis, the group toured Amon G. Carter Stadium and all our athletics facilities.

ON THE DOCKET

Even though its final exam week, it's also busy for us with postseason and conference championship competition. Our women's golf team begins NCAA West Regional play Thursday in Erie, Colo., while our women's tennis team heads to Durham, N.C., to face South Carolina in opening-round NCAA Regional action. Three of our sports will be in Colorado Springs. Men's and women's track and field will compete at the Mountain West Championships, while baseball opens a three-game series Friday at Air Force.

COMPLIANCE CORNER

The NCAA holds Bylaw 10.1 in high esteem. The majority of the 434-page NCAA manual (a book without pictures mind you) provides answers to specific, sometimes very specific, questions (e.g., When can a coach recruit? What is considered to be acceptable academic progress for a student-athlete? What types of snacks can be given to student-athletes?). Bylaw 10.1 is different. Through this bylaw, the NCAA makes a broad, overreaching statement about ethical behavior within college athletics. Cited in most major infractions cases, 10.1 addresses situations where an institution (coaches, student-athletes and staff) knows an activity is impermissible/unethical and chooses to act anyway. Bylaw 10.1 is the heart of the NCAA rules, placing the responsibility of ethical behavior squarely on the shoulders of all individuals within an athletics department.

Specific prohibitions of Bylaw 10.1 include:



1.) Academic fraud
2.) Lying to the NCAA or institution during a rules violations investigation

 3.) Providing a banned substance to a student-athlete

 4.) Arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent

 5.) Knowingly providing a prospect or current student-athlete an extra benefit

KEEP IN TOUCH

Please let us know if you ever have any questions or concerns regarding our program. This is also your program and we value your feedback. We welcome all calls and emails.

Go Frogs!

Christopher M. Del Conte
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics