TU Athletics deserve more credit

From: Tim Leonard, Towson University Athletic Director 

I am writing in response to your opinion article describing the performance of the Towson University (TU) Athletics Department.

You are correct, we have not recently achieved our competition goals in football and men’s basketball. In these two sports, our goal is the NCAA postseason. The TU athletics department is committed to achieve these goals and we are confident in our programs heading into the 2018-19 athletic seasons.

Your piece omits the success of other programs, including men’s and women’s lacrosse. Our men’s lacrosse team has won three-straight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships, reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 2016 and advanced to the Championship Weekend in 2017. Our women’s lacrosse program has won four of the last six CAA championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in eight of the last 10 years.

In addition, our volleyball program has gone 104-26 over the past four years [Editors Note: Jordan Cope had mentioned the success of the University’s volleyball program in the regular season, but noted its postseason struggles] and swimmer Jack Saunderson just earned All-America honors for a second-straight year.

UMBC earned its trip to the NCAA Tournament and its historic win against Virginia is inspiring. As you know, TU men’s basketball has beaten UMBC in each of the last five seasons. In addition to our winning streak against UMBC, we have beaten Morgan State five-straight seasons, Loyola each of the last three seasons and the last three games against Coppin State. In head-to-head competition, TU earned the title of Greater Baltimore’s premier men’s basketball program. 

In other head-to-head competition against UMBC, our men’s lacrosse and women’s basketball teams have won seven-straight games against the Retrievers, and our women’s lacrosse team has won six straight.

In addition to our commitment to athletic competition, TU athletics is committed to academic success and community engagement. We are proud to have the highest graduation success rate in the University System of Maryland (USM) and our student-athletes have completed over 10,000 community service hours for the fifth consecutive year. Our mission in TU athletics is to produce student-athletes who are champions in competition, in the classroom and in the community.

I invite you to the Towson Center to sit down and discuss your opinions on the Towson University athletics department and learn more of our comprehensive commitment to our student-athlete experience.

Go Tigers!

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