Denning Gerig (DG): Hello again, Shocker Nation! Denning Gerig, alongside Director of Athletics Kevin Saal, and we are coming to you today from our brand-new indoor practice facility here at Wilkins Stadium, home of Shocker Softball. Now, Kevin, I have seen your swing, and it could use some work, but that is not why we are here today. Another year of Wichita State Athletics is upon us. Campus is alive again. Fall sports about to get going. What has you most excited as we embark upon another year of Wichita State sports?
 
Kevin Saal (KS): Well, we've got a lot of activity, right? We welcome 250 student athletes back to campus this past week. Classes started this week. Orientations, all of those things really, really important. We've got some bold goals for the year. First and foremost, we've got three championships to win to get to our 15 in five years. Really important there and I think we have some real opportunities to do so even this fall, particularly with our men's cross country program. So really excited about what we have going. We've got about $100 million in capital projects going on on our campus that's specifically dedicated to athletics. So, there's a lot of fundraising initiatives that are ongoing and some very exciting news there. And then we've got our academic performance, really unprecedented academic performance. And so that starts early and firm with our student athletes with classes beginning. We'll start study hall next week. So, we're in the thick of it and a lot to look forward to.
 
DG: Kevin, there's an unmistakable sense of positivity around the athletic department as a whole. Right now, I feel like people have kind of seen the growth from so many different Shocker programs. What are the next steps in terms of kind of continuing that upward trajectory?
 
KS: Well, I think we've got to build, right. We've had some really, really nice championships here in the last year with men's outdoor track and field. Bowling had another really great year. Softball had a conference championship and our men's basketball program went from 15 wins to 19 wins to 24, a couple of consecutive trips to the NIT and winning a few games last year. And so, we've got to continue to build off of that. And so, we've always said from day one that it really for us, the competitive excellence starts with winning league championships, because league championships we get everything else that we want to do, from NCAA tournament participation to Directors' Cup points. And we have a bold goal to be a top-100 program in the Directors' Cup, we were 247th. A few years back, we went to 151st two years ago and then 146th last year. So, we're making that climb. But it's like when you're mountain climbing, the higher you get, the more difficult it gets and the steps become a little bit more arduous and challenging. And so, for us, we've got to take some steps forward in all of our programs. And I'm confident we'll do so.
 
DG: As you're out in the community engaging with fans, engaging with donors, what kind of things are you hearing from Shocker Nation when it comes to investing in this athletic department as a whole?
 
KS: Well, I think whenever you talk about investment folks who've got to feel confident in what they're investing in. So that's really where the conversation starts. And I feel kind of an overwhelming sense from the community that they're pleased with our direction. We still have much more to accomplish. And you're starting to see those fruits in terms of new ticket sales. You know, last year in men's basketball at 600 new season tickets, we're sitting at about 300 this year, 90% renewal rate from last year, which is very good.
Our baseball revenue is up about 47%. And we're seeing some numbers like that that certainly indicate that our fans are wanting to be heavily engaged in what we're doing. We've announced one in particular matching campaign at a half-million dollars that's helping with our roster resources, and there will be more of those to come. We are having those conversations. We've got real momentum with our facilities. We announced the $18 million tennis facility, and we've already secured two major gifts in terms of naming in that facility as well. So, I think for the most part, Shocker Nation is really excited about our program and where it's headed, and they want to be a part of it. And they've said that we want to do more.
 
DG: Kevin, it's impossible to be on this campus and not notice all the capital projects, including right here at Wilkins Stadium, the biggest of those, though is across the street over at Crossland Stadium. The dust has finally settled on the deconstruction on the west side. What kind of an update can you give us on the status of those projects?
 
KS: Yeah, sure. It's been a three phase, three-year project over there at Crossland. And, you know, we have sequenced that around state track. That's a really, really important event for us and for Wichita in terms of economic development. And so, two years ago, you saw that east side come down, new plazas, new gates, restrooms, concessions, all of those pieces. Last year we did the event level. It is a first class, premium Olympic track facility. We redid the throws area outside last year as well. And I think you saw the benefit that that can create particularly for state high school track. That allowed us to get more participants in. It was really efficient and a well-run event. So, we're excited about that. And this this year has been the dramatic change with the west side. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were all sitting in our offices and heard a really loud bang as that thing came down. And what's amazing is how quickly they're able to get rid of the debris. And so pretty close to finished with the demo there. And then they'll go down about four feet and get into utilities, they'll get into concrete foundations, and then you'll start to see it build up over there. We will have seating for state high school track next spring. We'll probably have to get into some temporary concessions and restrooms because it'll take us a little bit longer over there. But a really exciting project over there. You've got an athletic training suite, you've got a broadcast room, which is going to be huge for our department, and then you've got just an assortment of facilities in there that are going to allow that to be a community stadium. From high school events to championships, we're aggressively bidding for championships, so it's going to be a really great facility. We're sitting inside arguably one of the best indoor facilities in our league and certainly in the region. This has been a 2 or 3 year project. When I started here, we just finished up about $2.5 million in renovations specific to Wilkins. We did lights, we did the playing surface, we did the new dugout, we did the batting cages. And then very quickly after that, we got to the indoor facility here and we're incredibly excited. Right behind us. They're finishing up the Wadsworth Family Team Operations Center and all in it's about $15 million in investment in our softball program over the last five years and well deserved. Kristi's done a phenomenal job with her staff, won a conference championship, as we mentioned last year, and have most of that group returning. So, we're really excited about what's to come there. We talked about the tennis facility. This is an $18 million tennis facility that is the largest single gift in the history of WSU of any category. That's very, very exciting. What I think is more exciting is we will have a premier first-class home for our tennis programs. We'll have the the ability to generate some revenue to help with our annual operating budgets and to help grow those two programs. We'll also have an opportunity to host some external events in there as well. So very, very excited about that. Excited to announce two major gifts in support of that tennis facility as well. That should break ground later this fall and then we should get into it before Christmas of '27.
 
DG: Kevin, programs like right here at softball, back over at Koch with men's basketball not only had good seasons, but we're also able to retain a lot of those same pieces for another run out of it this year. What do you see as kind of the secret sauce for those programs ability to not only build, but also retain talent? And how do we continue to do so?
 
KS: Well, I think it starts with leadership. The leadership in our programs has been very, very good. Kristi's, I think, in her 15th year here at WSU and Paul's entering his fourth in relation to those two programs that you mentioned, the culture in those programs is real, it's genuine, it's authentic. The young people really enjoy being a part of that. And so, when we talk about, you know, efficient use, responsible use of roster resources, we want to make sure that we're prioritizing retention, because retention is ultimately what is going to raise the ceiling for us the most in our program is that that longevity, that continuity that you get with kids that are coming back to your program. Basketball is a perfect example, right? We talked about from Coaches Mills' first year to his second year. The average team in our league lost eight to the portal and Coach Mills lost three. You saw a lot of that similar history in his six years at Oral Roberts. This past off-season we're returning ten out of 15 on a 24 win roster. That that can only help us as we move forward. Christie's bringing nearly everybody back from a conference championship team, so that retention is incredibly important for us, and that's where we want to focus our resources so that we can build championships with consistent rosters.
 
DG: Kevin, I am not a tickets guy, but I am hearing a lot of numbers being thrown around about our men's basketball season ticket sales, that those numbers are trending up in a really positive direction. How important is that to the overall scope of the athletic department?
 
KS: Well, financially it's huge for us because it fuels everything that we do. The men's basketball program, the ticket sales, the seat donations and the philanthropic gifts that that drive everything that that we do here at Wichita State. And so, you have to look a little bit at context. I think that direction determines destination. You know, last year we sold 600 new season tickets. As I mentioned before, we're going to retain about 90%, maybe a little bit more renewal rate from last year. Our renewal due date was this past Saturday, same day as the Black and Yellow Gala. The results have been very positive. We expect to be north of 90% there as well. We've got 300 new season tickets sold this year. Our goal is to get to 500. So, when you start to combine all these things and think about an arena that seats ten-six and that we will arguably have 1,000 new season tickets over the last couple of years, that's real progress. And a lot of credit goes to Shocker Nation for believing in us and investing in our programs. And then we've got some unbelievable people in our external team fundraising and development and annual fund in our ticket office that are working at it really hard to make sure that we're positioned well.
 
DG: I imagine a lot of fans are curious about how Wichita State has kind of positioned itself with the NCAA's age-based eligibility rules, more commonly referred to as the five-and-five. I just wanted to give you a chance to kind of speak to your thoughts on the matter and the kind of conversations you've had with your coaches.
 
KS: Yeah, to set the context. You know, last year, the NCAA passed a five years to play five eligibility rule in hopes to cut down on just the massive volume of waivers that were occurring and really bogging down the system. And so, the decision was made when that was passed to not include the incoming class of '22. We weren't going to look back. We were just going to only look forward. And so obviously there's a lot of court cases from that class of '22, and there's really two different types of court cases. One is what we're reading and hearing about in Colorado, which is a class action case. That's everybody from the class of '22. The other things that we're seeing are state specific, named plaintiff cases, where state courts are ruling that a defined list of student athletes are now eligible. And so there's a lot going on. At the end of the day, how we navigate that at Wichita State is we make sure that we're supportive of the student athletes from the class of '22, and that we keep those plates spinning so that if and when those rulings come down in favor of student-athletes from the class of '22 to compete, that we're ready for that. So, whether that's enrollment, whether that's practicing with the teams, which is permissible to do, we're going to support all of those activities to make sure that we're positioned in the right spot. And I think that's the overriding point for us is that we're going to support our student athletes, and we're going to accommodate potential future decisions and rulings and do so administering our programs within the rules.
 
DG: I feel like in the modern era of college sports, that non-revenue athletics sometimes gets lost in the wash just a little bit with all the emphasis on revenue sharing and NIL, how do you, as an athletic director, balance the successes of a bowling, a track and field, a tennis, a cross country with the financial demands that some of your other sport programs have?
 
KS:  Well, at the end of the day, we've got a sports portfolio of 14 sports and they're all in different places. It's our job administratively to make sure that they're resourced in the top third in their league, because I believe you can realistically expect championships when you're in the top third. It's a little tougher to do that from the middle third or the bottom third. And so, for the most part, we are we have positioned ourselves in that spot. We're in a growth industry, so we always want to continue to grow, and there will never be enough money to do everything that we want to do. So, we do have to make some decisions. But I will tell you, doing research, we're sitting in a softball facility as we speak, doing some research on our softball program where it's positioned total resource allocation, not only in the American but in the Sun Belt that got four NCAA bids last year and the American got one. We sit at second. When you combine the 19 institutions in the Sun Belt and the American. And so those are the types of studies that we do to make sure that we're positioned the right way with our personnel and with our programs. And I think that's bearing some fruit, right? We look at this year. This year, I think is our first really legitimate opportunity to win a men's cross country championships since I think '87. And so I'm really excited about that from a fall sport standpoint. Our bowling program came in two years ago, resourced in the top ten in the country, and so they're positioned well to compete. We talked about softball. Baseball is in a very good position within the American Conference. And so, I truly believe that we need to align resources to expectations. It doesn't do us much good, Denning, to sit here and expect championships if we're not resourcing at a level that that you can realistically expect championships. So, I feel good about where we are, we're going to continue to grow, we're going to continue to push hard and look forward to some championships this year.
 
DG: Last question for you, Kevin, as we embark upon another year here at Wichita State Athletics, what's the message that you want to leave this fan base with?
 
KS: Well, I think first and foremost, it's gratitude. Just thanks to Shocker Nation for supporting our programs through season tickets, seat donations, philanthropic gifts, all the facilities. We've created a really nice ecosystem for our young people to develop, and we're ushering generational and transformational change in these young people. So just gratitude and thanks first. And second, I want to reiterate that we have high expectations and we welcome yours. At the end of the day, we are resourced incredibly well. We aspire to win championships regularly in our program. We want to qualify for NCAA tournaments and make deep runs in those tournaments. Those are our internal expectations, so we certainly welcome those from our fans. But for the most part, I think gratitude and thanks to Shocker Nation for supporting what we do and how we do it. For filling our arenas. And the best is yet to come. We look forward to a great year.
 
DG: Well, thank you so much for the time today, Kevin, and thank you, Shocker Nation, for tuning in. Make sure that you're joining us all season long here at Wichita State.