@MizzouAthletics Flourishes under First Year AD Jim Sterk
6/29/2017 3:19:00 PM | General
The highest Learfield Director's Cup standings finish ever and a school record $50.4 million raised highlight 2016-17
It's been 10 months since Athletics Director Jim Sterk took over the reigns of Mizzou Athletics, but in that brief period of time, he has made a huge impact on Mizzou's athletic programs. In addition to banner years on the athletic field and in fundraising, Mizzou is seeing progress made with its facilities and fan engagement while continuing its excellence in the classroom.
Sterk began his tenure as AD in September right as fall sports were beginning. He had just left San Diego State University after being named AD of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
"My passion is building upon the successes of good athletic programs and helping to make them great," Sterk said. "Mizzou's recent entry into the SEC makes it highly visible, and I am excited about the opportunity to help continue to lead it on the national stage."
In 2016-17, Mizzou saw its highest finish ever in this year's season-ending Learfield Director's Cup standings by ranking 33rd in the nation. The Tigers earned this spot by winning two conference team championships (volleyball and wrestling), having 16 of 20 teams represent in NCAA postseason play, and 10 teams finishing their respective seasons ranked among the nation's Top 25. The highest previous ranking was 36th in 2008-09.
Sterk also contributed in the maintaining of Mizzou's high ranking in the SEC for academic excellence. The Tigers continued their quality work in the classroom and earned second in the SEC across all sports.
"Mizzou Athletics' strong academic performance is a credit to the dedication of our student-athletes, academic commitment of our coaches and outstanding work of our academic support and MizzouMade teams," said Sterk.
Mizzou's women's golf, soccer, tennis and SEC Champion volleyball all came in first in the conference in multi-year APR scores. All four programs posted perfect 1,000 APR scores for the 2016-17 academic year. These scores count for eligibility, retention and graduation and provide a measure of each team's academic performance.
Under Sterk's direction, Mizzou is also looking toward making some updates on its facilities in the coming years. Plans for the South End Zone project of Memorial Stadium will be up for approval by the board of directors in the coming weeks and will create a stand-alone facility for the football team to operate from. He is also hoping to make the fan seating side of the South End Zone a space specifically for the donors and fans that helped make the project happen.
"I'm excited about that project because we're engaging people on a lot of different levels," Sterk said. "There will be something for everyone, whether it's a bunker suite, touchdown area to general admission to club seating to suites and then possibly some decks up top too."
Other possible facility upgrades in the works include Field Turf at Taylor Stadium and continued improvements to the Hearnes Center. There are also plans of putting up a statue of Norm Stewart in front of Mizzou Arena.
With all of the updates to Mizzou's athletic facilities, there is a higher demand than ever for funding. Due to the generosity of more than 7,000 donors, the Tiger Scholarship Fund raised a school record $50.4 million in the 2017 fiscal year. The record number raised was a $4.7 million improvement ahead of the previous record of $45.7 million raised in 2011-12 after Mizzou announced the transition to the Southeastern Conference.
"I believe this record-breaking year is a credit to our loyal donors and the outstanding work of the Tiger Scholarship Fund staff," said Sterk. "With the momentum generated from this year's achievements, we believe a strong foundation is in place to ensure future success within our athletics program."
Sterk has contributed this success to more fan and donor engagement. This year, student ticket sales for football and basketball games have already doubled, up to 2,400 from 1,200 at this time last year. Non-student football season tickets are on the increase as well, as 82% of the revenue goal has been reached with 21,000 season tickets sold with two months to kickoff to go.
"I think we're in really good shape. I'd love to be at a hundred percent right now and then moving above, but I think it will be important for us to start off right and show some progress," Sterk said.
Fans can also look forward to more games being played in Missouri's two biggest cities – Kansas City and St. Louis – in the future.
"I think it's important to bring it to those locations if you can, especially with both sides of the state," Sterk said.
Sterk has successfully made it through his first year as Mizzou's AD and doesn't intend on leaving any time soon.
"I'm going to work as long as I can and be effective for Mizzou. I believe in the land grant mission, I believe in what we're doing here and then I'm competitive as hell. I want to win. I want to win championships, but do it in the right way. My motto is win it right. That's what I want to do."
