Jan. 19, 2005

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Ian,

Thank you for this opportunity for feedback. My issue concerns the marketing of the university. Many of my neighbors' homes are adorned with a flag representing their respective colleges. For some reason, Baylor does not sell house flags on the website, and I did not find them at the campus book store last summer. I'd love a green flag with the traditional interlocking gold BU, but beggars can't be choosers. Can you do something to help us proud fans display our school colors?

Greg White
Dallas, Texas

Greg,

Thanks for your e-mail. We have seen a significant increase in sales of Baylor Bears merchandise, and flags are among the items in demand. You can purchase green Baylor flags at the Baylor Bookstore and gold Baylor flags at T-Shirts Plus here in Waco.

These are great items to display and demonstrate your school spirit by flying Baylor colors proudly!

Ian

I was wondering if Baylor was seeking to partner with another university such as Tech and Texas did to make a bit to host "neutral" site for a regional for the women's NCAA basketball tournament. Each site will have two brackets with 16 teams this year as I understand it, with two teams emerging from each regional.

Does this mean that Tech and Texas will get sent to the Dallas regional and Baylor will be sent elsewhere?

It would appear that LSU might be a good school to partner with for a "neutral" site in say Houston so that we might have a good following present for our tournament games.

What are you feelings on Baylor joining with another university to co-host at a "neutral" site?

Lance W. House
Dallas, Texas

Lance,

Thank you for the e-mail and excellent question.

We have pursued co-hosting a NCAA women's basketball first and second round or regional in future years with a number of other institutions. The Lady Bears following has grown so strong that we could do this in a number of venues within driving distance of Waco. We do not have anything to announce at this point, however, we continue to pursue viable opportunities.

Ian

My family and I enjoyed one of the volleyball matches in November. The team played with tremendous spirit and determination. Two questions: 1. Has the team added any players? 2. Though the women's basketball games seem to have a great venue, the volleyball team seemed to be playing in much too big of one. Has this been considered?

Tiffany Carter
Dallas, Texas

Tiffany,

Baylor volleyball is very entertaining and I am glad that you enjoyed watching the team play.

We are very excited about our volleyball program and look forward to great success in the years to come under Coach Barnes. We have a strong returning nucleus for next season and have added Kelsey Smith, a high school All-American and junior college All-American Deja Sweeney.

We are studying the development of a multi-purpose facility that would accommodate volleyball along with several other programs in a more compact setting than the Ferrell Center.

Ian

It was great the see the 10,000 plus on Saturday. You should be very proud of what both basketball teams have accomplished.

One suggestion, the lines at the refreshment stands were way too long. Like me, I notice a lot of people just walking on by not buying anything because of the long wait. Suggest that a plan be put in place to beef up the support in those stands. I even notice some that had Only two people in them serving customers.

I was also at the Baylor game on Sunday and the refreshment lines at the Irwin Center were a lot shorter but they were heavily staffed.

Robert Olofson
Georgetown, Texas

Robert,

Thanks for the e-mail. Operation 10K was an overwhelming success and a lot of fun for our fans. We debriefed after the game and have made some adjustments to address the lines at the refreshment stands. For the Oklahoma - Baylor game on Sunday, we had hawkers in the stands and that made a tremendous difference.

I appreciate your support!

Ian

Once again, both the men's and women's basketball programs are representing Baylor in a great way. As for the men's program, can you please shed some light on the pending arrival of the center from Senegal Mamadou Dienne?

Thank You and Sic'Em Bears!!!

Arturo Salinas
Eagle Pass, Texas

Editor's Note: Similar questions were received from Chris Coultas (San Antonio, Texas), Rick Anderson (Houston, Texas), Trent Collier (Corpus Christi, Texas), John A. Hazlewood (Nacogdoches Texas)

Arturo,

Thank you for the kind words about our basketball programs. Our coaching staffs and student-athletes in both programs are representing Baylor in exemplary fashion.

As for Mamadou Diene, we expect him to arrive later this week and redshirt this season. In this case, he would have four years of eligibility beginning with the 2005-06 year.

Ian

This is the most excited I have ever been about football recruiting. What are the coaches doing to attract this top talent to Baylor? Tell them to keep up the great work!!!

Nick
Houston, Texas

Nick,

Thanks for the question and you are correct that our football coaching staff is doing a terrific job in recruiting. We are looking forward to national signing day on February 2 as we expect that this will be the best Baylor football class in at least a decade.

I attribute this success to the coaches' hard work and skill in evaluating talent. From there, they are very effective in selling themselves and Baylor. Our greatest assets include the abilities of Coach Morriss and his staff highlighted by their wealth of NFL experience. The Big 12 Conference including its television contract, bowl tie-ins and competitive success is another attribute. Baylor's Christian mission and academic profile are appealing along with our Big 12-leading NCAA graduation rates for student-athletes (78 percent) and football players (88 percent). The University's commitment to athletics especially as seen through facilities is also very important.

Bottom line: if a prospective student-athlete desires to play at the highest level alongside the best and against the best, receive an outstanding education and earn a valuable degree, and develop great character and integrity then Baylor is the clear choice!

Ian

Final Thoughts

I want to extend my appreciation to our ticket, marketing, promotions, media relations, operations and facilities staff members for their outstanding work in Operation 10K a week ago Saturday. Achieving a sellout crowd and electric atmosphere in the Ferrell Center allowed Lady Bear basketball to reach a new threshold of success. Thank you Lady Bear fans!

I want to share with you couple of interesting anecdotes from the Lady Bears - Texas game. For the first time at a women's basketball game, we did actually turn away some fans from the game. In addition, we had to direct campus security to remove as many as four individuals who were scalping $10 tickets for as much as $25!

My seven year old son commented during that game that he didn't think the game was really sold out because he counted nine empty seats. I informed him that some people had to take advantage of restroom facilities or concessions and that was why they were not in their seats.

Hopefully, you have purchased your reserved seats for the remaining Lady Bear games. We do not want to turn away any Lady Bear fans, so please purchase your tickets in advance from the Athletic Ticket Office by calling 710-1000 or visiting the locations at either Floyd Casey or the Ferrell Center.

Parking has also become a challenge at Lady Bear games. Be sure to join the Baylor Bear Foundation to secure your reserved parking for Lady Bear games. In doing so, you will do two very good things. The first is to support scholarships for Baylor student-athletes. The second is you will receive a preferred parking location for all games.

I want to express my appreciation to the men's and women's basketball teams for signing autographs for about 700 fans at the Richland Mall on Monday. The student-athletes signed posters, basketballs and programs, and a great time was had by all!

We continue to raise support for Grant Teaff Plaza project. This enhancement to Floyd Casey Stadium will make a tremendous difference for our football program. Contributions can be made on-line at BaylorBears.com under Features by clicking on the story about the completion of the Grant Teaff Plaza.

Finally, we are grateful for the generous contribution from the Philip M. Dorr & Alumni Endowed Stadium toward student-athlete scholarships. A $175,000 donation from the fund was given to the department during halftime of Saturday's Baylor-Texas women's basketball game. These monies will be used to fund scholarships for student-athletes in the Hankamer School of Business. This is a great program and we are appreciative of Dean Terry Maness, Professor Bill Reichenstein and alumnus Phil Dorr.