A Letter From Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell: Happy New Year!

Cardinal fans,

Happy New Year! As we ring in 2025, we do so at an exciting time of the athletics calendar as we begin Mid-American Conference play for men's and women's basketball, and as our reigning conference championship teams – women's gymnastics and preseason No. 5 men's volleyball – begin their new seasons. Other sports competing this winter include indoor track, men's and women's swim and dive, and men's and women's tennis and golf.

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event at Worthen Arena. In this new year, your support of our talented student-athletes is central to our success. Our student-athletes, coaches, and staff work diligently to make Muncie and Ball State proud, and you're always invited to join us to cheer your hometown teams.

The new year's arrival also gives rise to the new realities of intercollegiate athletics. We are experiencing the modernization of college sports as roster limits for all sports will be implemented beginning in the fall of 2025 and some student-athletes will begin seeing increased monetary benefits. Conference realignment continues to persist, and we await a new governance structure from the NCAA.

The good news is that momentum is on our side as we adjust. We are fortunate that Ball State University is operating from a position of strength as a leader in higher education not only in Indiana but also across the country. As an institution, we are making significant advances to student success and learning in terms of career exploration, professional growth, and developing a sense of belonging.

The appeal for a Ball State experience resonates. In fact, recruiting efforts for the 2025-26 academic year have already yielded commitments from 80 student-athletes from 20 states and 7 countries. For our current student-athletes, part of the experience is a commitment to academic achievement as they prepare to be leaders and winners in their respective communities. This past fall, each of our 19 teams registered a GPA greater than 3.0, which is a feat that was also reached in the fall of 2023.

As we work to elevate the Ball State brand, success also includes a commitment to fielding competitive athletic teams. In order to accomplish this, we are undergoing several projects to further that objective. This spring, we will break ground on our new Eric Foss Championship Performance Center, an $8 million, 11,000 square foot laboratory dedicated to enhancing the power and speed of our student-athlete population. This new weight room, complete with a cardio mezzanine, nutrition station, and 40 yards of turf for indoor sprint work and speed development serves as our brick-and-mortar commitment to championship performance. We are also working diligently to create best-in-class practices to provide quality care for student-athletes to address the growing needs around sports medicine, sport science, and mental health. We are making progress in these areas, and I look forward to sharing more updates with you.

An exciting project that we have recently completed is our new $1.7 million outdoor track on which our women's track team will compete. I am also thrilled to share that we will have several new facility improvements to celebrate with you later this spring. Stay tuned!
Finally, thank you for the overwhelming support of Mike Uremovich as our new head football coach. Our football staff is complete and recruiting efforts have been outstanding as we prepare for the 2025 season. We are excited about the future of our football program. As Coach U expressed to me when he accepted the job, "We're all in this together!"

So let that be our calling card in this new year. I am asked often about how alumni, friends, and fans can help us. My answer is simple. You can do one or more of the following:

Please buy season tickets for our ticketed sports.
Please consider an annual gift to the Cardinal Varsity Club :
Please consider a major gift to Our Call to Beneficence capital campaign:
Help make One Ball State Day on April 2 our best one yet! Be on the lookout for more information and please invite a friend to join you in getting involved with Ball State Athletics.

You make a difference for us! Let's make 2025 a great year for Ball State University and Ball State Athletics!

Join me as we do this together!

Go Cardinals!

Jeff

A Letter From Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell: Happy New Year!

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