Baylor Family,

This has been an exciting week culminating with the announcement that Baylor University's Board of Regents unanimously adopted a proposal to construct an on-campus football practice facility. This project is a powerful affirmation of the university's commitment to excellence in Athletics and specifically, its football program.

Moreover, this is another large step forward in the Victory With Integrity Campaign as this will be the fourth major athletics facility project approved among the six identified in the campaign when it was adopted by the Board of Regents in February of 2005.

We are grateful to so many who played an important role in the development of this facility including the members of the Board of Regents, President Lilley and his executive council and in particular the donors to this project.

We are looking forward to the project getting underway in the coming weeks and being completed in approximately 18 months.

You may have read about the Big 12 - Pac 10 Basketball Challenge announced in recent days. This event will include a home-and-home series for our men's basketball team against Washington State in the next two seasons.

We are looking forward to a great crowd for the #13 ranked Lady Bears game against another Top 25 team, Kansas State on Saturday in the Ferrell Center. It is not too late to secure good tickets from the Athletics Ticket Office at 710-1000.

The following are the most recent round of Ask Ian questions.

Ian;

Are there any plans to build an on-campus football training facility? If so, how soon is ground to be broken?

Steve Jackson

Houston, Texas

Editor's Note: Similar practice facility questions were received from Trey Willis (Krum, Texas), John Bates (Euless, Texas), Trent Horner (Dallas, Texas), Luis A. Gonzalez (Hewitt, Texas), Brandon Avants (Waco, Texas), Brandon Boyd (Dallas, Texas), Justin Newcom (Fort Worth, Texas)

Steve,

Thank you for the question. No doubt you are among those celebrating the Board of Regents announcement this week. We will be reviewing the plans for the football practice facility project with the Board of Regents at its February meeting prior to releasing them to the public. Needless to say, this project will provide an enormous boost to the football program and provide it with all of the facilities and amenities necessary to recruit the very best student-athletes to Baylor University.

Ian

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Ian;

Thanks for the great work you and your staff are doing.

I am worried about all the negative posts on the internet and Baylorfans.com. Do you think this hurts us in recruiting or with the Bear Foundation?

Jake Cruz

Richmond, Texas

Jake,

Thank you for the questions. I join you in being concerned about irresponsible posts and misinformation that is prevalent on the internet and specifically Baylorfans.com.

I have first-hand knowledge from speaking with parents of prospective student-athletes that they have become concerned after having read negative (and false) comments posted on Baylorfans.com. It is unclear to me whether these posts are coming from disgruntled Baylor fans or fans from a rival school. Regardless, they have the same detrimental effect on recruiting. Similarly, these negative comments are hurtful in raising funds, selling season tickets or promoting the program in general.

I have shared these concerns with the Baylorfans.com site operator. Hopefully, all of you will join me in the best interest of the university and athletics program by requesting improved monitoring of the site and more constructive (positive) posts.

We need to ensure that a few negative or uniformed posters don't disrupt all of the positive developments that are taking place within our athletics program.

Ian

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Ian,

I am curious as to the status of LeQuantum McDonald's eligibility. Due to the fact that he was injured in the TCU game--the first game of the season--he should be eligible for a medical hardship waiver (medical redshirt)? Do we know whether or not this will be granted by the conference, and if not, when will we know?

Ty

Waco, Texas

Ty,

Thank you for the question. LeQuantum McDonald is a redshirt freshman this year and will be a sophomore next season. He is not eligible for a medical redshirt since he received a developmental redshirt year in 2005.

Ian

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Ian;

I would like to congratulate the Baylor football recruiting directors for giving such a great '07 class. Also, how is Shawn Bell doing with his injury?

Dusty Wright

San Antonio, Texas

Dusty,

We are very excited about the prospects of the 2007 football recruiting class.

Baylor will not have any student-athletes declare early for the 2007 NFL Draft, although we have several who will likely be drafted. Daniel Sepulveda, Anthony Arline, C.J. Wilson, Trent Shelton and Dominique Zeigler are among the most likely to be chosen in the draft.

From what I understand, Shawn Bell's rehabilitation following surgery is going well.

Ian

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Ian,

Thanks for the great job you are doing with the athletic program. I just wanted to see where Baylor is on progressing with the Victory with Integrity campaign. How much more is needed for the campaign, and where do we stand on getting the football facility built?

Peter

Belton, Texas

Peter,

Thank you for the question regarding the Victory With Integrity campaign. We will be providing an update on the success of the campaign in the next few weeks as we celebrate its second anniversary. As I mentioned above, we are making great progress with four of the six capital projects having been approved.

Ian