University Southern California Trojans
Trojan Talk: Fall 1998
June 21, 1999 | USC Athletics
Athletic Department Sets Record With $12.3 Million in Donations
For the second year in a row, the athletic department has shattered its old fund-raising record.
In the just concluded fiscal year, the department raised $12.3 million, which was $2.7 million more than last year's mark of $9.6 million. Last year's mark itself was more than $2 million over the previous record.
"I am stunned," said senior associate athletic director Don Winston, the director of the development office. "This is a tribute to our many alumni and other friends who have stepped forward to help us reach our goals. We are truly grateful.
"The generosity shown by our donors indicates that they approve of the leadership and direction of the department."
In 1995-96, donations dipped to about $5.6 million, but since then the department has raised nearly $22 million in the last two years alone. This year's total is more than double the figure from two years ago.
Noting the many long-overdue building projects the department has undertaken, with more being planned, Winston cautioned that it was no time to relax.
"Only about a third of the money we raised this year went to help pay for annual expenses, such as scholarships, team travel, salaries, recruiting and so forth," Winston said. "Most of it went to pay for sorely needed capital improvements, such as the new football and soccer fields, the dining/weight room facility, the track stadium and the six new tennis courts.
"With the cost of scholarships alone hitting $6 million this year, our biggest need is to increase the number of our annual donors in Scholarship Club, The Committee, Cardinal & Gold, Women of Troy and Trojan Club. So we are going right back to work."
209 Athletes Compile B Averages in Spring
Nearly 40 percent of USC's full-time student-athletes had B averages or better during the spring semester--an exceptional accomplishment.
A total of 209 men and women achieved 3.0 grade-point averages, with 59 of those reaching 3.5 or better. The total of 209 was 26 higher than the 183 athletes who had 3.0 averages during the fall semester, a remarkable number in itself.
"Our staff has done an outstanding job," said associate athletic director Daryl Gross, the overall supervisor of Student-Athlete Academic Services (SAAS), which counsels all student-athletes. "We restructured our program last fall, allowing us to give the student-athletes a more concentrated counseling effort.
"With Fred Stroock [former director of SAAS] handling admissions and initital eligibility responsibilities for us now, and Michael Prenger joining the staff as our day-to-day supervisor, we have a very streamlined operation. At the same time, our counselors, including assistant director Janice Henry, Michael Demps and Mike Matoso, have done a great job."
Prenger, who works directly under Gross, was recently promoted to assistant athletic director.
Topping the list of student-athletes were seven who had perfect 4.0 grade-point averages in the spring semester, including Karolina Bakalarova (business administration/women's tennis), Kim Black (biology/women's swimming), Alaina Kipps (psycho-biology/women's volleyball), Miranda Lim (interdisciplinary program/women's water polo), (Anna Lopaciuch (undecided/women's track), Christoph Poehler (economics/men's tennis) and Taylor Sherman (undecided/women's diving). Black, Kipps, Lopaciuch and Poehler have had 4.0 grade point averages for their entire USC careers.
Fifteen members of the current football team had 3.0 averages last spring, including six players listed as starters or co-starters heading into the fall. They include quarterback Mike Van Raaphorst, tailback Chad Morton, fullback Brennan Ochs, guards Travis Claridge and Donta Kendrick and placekicker Adam Abrams.
From the Director
Just a year ago, I thanked you for your generosity in helping us set a new fund-raising record for the athletic department.
Today, I have the pleasant duty of thanking you all over again. As the story to the right indicates, you absolutely shattered last year's already impressive record of $9.6 million. I was astonished when I learned that our fund-raising total in 1997-98 had soared to $12.3 million! You are remarkable people.
At the same time, I want to give credit to our development staff--Don Winston (senior associate athletic director), Ron Orr (associate athletic director), Cameron Smith (assistant athletic director), and Gina Brown, Mark Long and Brian Luft (assistant directors of development)--for an outstanding job. Somehow, they keep topping themselves.
As I said in an interview in the last issue of Trojan Talk, we are very excited and optimistic about the future--and for good reason. Financially, athletically and academically, we have had great success in recent months, and we have quality people in place throughout the athletic department as we continue to aim for even greater accomplishments.
But, as costs continue to escalate, we continue to need your support. Our budget for the new fiscal year is nearly $27 million, the highest ever. The cost of each scholarship this fall is $29,000, and we are adding 24 more women's scholarships over the next two years to finish fully funding their programs.
However, when one of our teams, such as the national champion baseball
team, or one of our athletes, such as NCAA golf champion Jennifer Rosales,
enjoys great success, you share in their accomplishment. They--and we--thank
you again.
-- Mike Garrett
Hackett Brings 29 Years of Coaching Experience to USC
The last time Paul Hackett coached at USC, he called the plays for Trojan football teams that turned in a 50-8-2 record in a five-year blaze of glory. In those five years, USC won a national championship, earned two second-place finishes in the polls and won three Rose Bowls.
When Hackett returned last December as head coach, he brought with him 29 years of experience in college and pro football, including NFL stops with the Browns, 49ers, Cowboys and Chiefs. Along the way he has coached for several of the biggest names in the sport, including Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, Marty Schottenheimer, John Robinson and Mike White.
He was 29 and the youngest coach on the USC staff in 1976, his first season in Heritage Hall. He is now 51, but has lost none of his energy or enthusiasm. As he looks ahead to his first season as USC head coach, Hackett knows he has a big challenge, but he's looking forward to it.
Q: USC has had two disappointing seasons in a row. Has that made the players more receptive to you?
"Yes. What has struck me the most is their great enthusiasm, their interest, their anxiousness to do well.
"There is a feeling throughout the team, 'What can we do to turn this thing around after the last couple of years?'"
Q: You've spent 13 of your last 17 seasons in the NFL. How has that helped you as a college coach?
"The best part of pro football is the knowledge that it gives you from a technical standpoint. When you're spending every minute of your time on the development of your offense and defense, it's only natural that there's going to be more creativity. A coach who spends time in pro football will improve as technician a little faster than he would in college.
"Everyone in the National Football League is good, and you are tested from a strategic standpoint very, very hard every week. It's very intense and evenly matched, although college football has become more evenly matched since I left."
Q: It must be a big adjustment coming back to college football and working with younger players.
"It would be very hard for an NFL coach who has not coached in college to do it for the first time, and I probably will make some mistakes in the first year, because I haven't been in it for five years. I might see some things I think the players can do that they won't be able to do.
"But someone who has never had the experience would be at a disadvantage. Remember now, the first half of my career was all in college. This is what I was going to do for my whole career, until I went gallivanting off across the country."
Q: Has anything surprised you in the last few months?
"What surprised me was that USC had fallen behind in facilities in the last 20 years, while everybody else in the country continued to escalate and improve. But I'm ecstatic by how we've moved in the last six months--the groundbreaking for the weight room and the dining facility, the new football field. I mean, we are roaring now.
"The timing is magnificent. Here I come, and we're going, and I think it's going to make a big difference for us."
Q: What does USC have to do to be great in football again?
"I think it's a function of time. I don't think there's any magical answer to what we have to do.
"But I do know that as we begin to work hard on keeping Southern California players at home, as we work hard on rebuilding the image and the expectations of USC to what historically they have been, I think we will attract more and more young people. I think our style of play will attract more and more young people.
"Clearly, the first block is in place with the two freshman quarterbacks, Carson Palmer and Jason Thomas. So, as we begin to recruit well in Southern California, it will begin to show on the field.
"Given the time constraints of college football, we also have to demand more from our players, because what they've done before has only been good enough for .500. We have some talent on this football team right now."
Q: On offense, USC has had a great tradition of running the football. But the running game has slipped. Is it your goal to get back to that?
"We have to give our football team the best opportunity to win, and we'll begin by running the football. Most good teams in college football run the ball very effectively. We will make a commitment to that.
"Of course, if you're going to be good at it, there are a couple of elements you have to have, and in 1998, I'm not sure we have all of those elements in place. You have to have a runner, and you have to have an experienced, cohesive offensive line."
Q: You're implying your running game still has a lot of question marks.
"In the offensive line, we don't have guys in place who have been together. And in that position, it's more important than any of them for the players to have worked together. I'm excited about watching the development of our line, but it's scary, too.
"It also would be nice to say that we have one tailback who will gain a ton of yards, but I don't know that we do. I know that we have four or five tailbacks who have shown me promise.
"Does Chad Morton have an edge? Absolutely. His speed and his ability to put pressure on the defense are very exciting. He also came out and threw himself into what we were doing in the spring and did the same thing in the summer. I have been delighted with Chad.
"But he's not the classic USC tailback who's going to carry the ball 30 times a game. We have to be very, very smart about our utilization of Chad. It would be foolish to wear him out in five games."
Q: The offense may be inexperienced, but the defense has a lot of veterans. Will it be an aggressive defense?
"Yes. We have some experience and some speed, and I really like what I see of our secondary. So I think we'll have the ability to help our defensive line by using some movement and some blitzing and some pressure.
"Of course, we'll have to rely on Daylon McCutcheon and Antuan Simmons and Kenny Haslip and those other guys who are sitting on the corner to have great years. But I think we need to be an attacking defense. I don't think we can afford to sit back and play passively, particularly with such an unproven offense."
Q: In discussing your first tenure as a head coach--at Pittsburgh--you said once that you tried to do too much.
"Clearly the experiences I had at the University of Pittsburgh were very, very valuable as I sit here in Heritage Hall. You have to learn. People can tell you anything, but you don't really believe it until you live it. That's what this whole process of coaching and experience is all about.
"I coached the quarterbacks at Pittsburgh and that's too much for a head coach to do in college football. And I coordinated the offense. And I feel like that's too much. Here, I'm going to rely very heavily on Ken O'Brien and Hue Jackson for those two jobs.
"Now, I may spread myself a little thin in the first year, because they're getting to know me and what I want. But, as they begin to absorb it, they will do more and more. I hope that's very evident by midseason.
"I am also very conscious of our defense and the support, the backing, the understanding that the defense needs from the head coach. The same with special teams--I'm a huge advocate of special teams.
"So, I'm going to be involved with the whole team, with an emphasis on offense early in the year, because I think we have to get started that way. But very quickly I will find myself moving around more than I ever did at Pittsburgh."
Q: How good will your first team be?
"I don't have any idea. We're going to be exciting, and we've got great enthusiasm. That much I know."
Q: Are you going to call the plays?
"I'll start off calling the plays and we'll see where it takes us. I may
call only the plays that work."
-- Jim Perry
1999 Football Season Will Open in Hawaii
Here's a trip you don't want to miss.
USC's football team will open the 1999 regular season against Hawaii in Honolulu, which is a great way to extend your summer vacation next year.
The addition of the Hawaii game (on Saturday, September 4) will give the Trojans 12 regular-season games instead of 11 for the second straight season. Games at Hawaii are among NCAA-allowed exemptions from the rule that restricts schools to 11 regular-season games.
"There are three reasons why we wanted to add Hawaii," said associate athletic director Daryl Gross, who is in charge of football scheduling.
"First, this allows us to begin preseason workouts earlier. Because USC is on the semester system, school starts before Labor Day, which normally doesn't give us many days for two-a-day practices. By starting the regular season earlier, we will maximize our number of two-a-day practices.
"Second, this gives us an extra game, which coach Paul Hackett feels is good for the development of our team. Third, it's a great opportunity for our fans to vacation and see the Trojans start the season at the same time."
USC's other non-conference opponents in 1999 include Notre Dame, San Diego State and Louisiana Tech. The game with Louisiana Tech will be coupled with a women's basketball game between the two schools the same weekend. Tech is a traditional power in women's basketball.
A previously scheduled game with Colorado next season was cancelled when Colorado opted for a two-game series beginning in the year 2000 instead of a four-game series beginning in 1999.
Six Former Trojans Compete at Wimbledon
USC currently has nine former tennis players on the men's professional tour, and six of them competed at Wimbledon this past summer. For most of them, it was a very successful experience.
Wayne Black (a USC player from 1992-94), advanced all the way to the semifinals in men's doubles, and also reached the third round in mixed doubles (teaming with his sister, Cara) and the second round in singles.
Wayne's brother, Byron (1988-1991) lost in the first round of men's doubles, but reached the round of 16 in singles.
Rick Leach (1984-87), son of current USC men's tennis coach Dick Leach, reached the quarterfinals in men's doubles. He and his partner at Wimbledon, Ellis Ferreiera, are currently ranked fourth in the world. In 1997, Leach and former Stanford player Jonathan Stark teamed to win the world's doubles title.
Brian MacPhie (1991-93) also reached the quarterfinals in men's doubles at Wimbledon and advanced to the second round in singles.
Brothers Luke and Murphy Jensen (1986-87 and 1988-89) played as a team, losing in the first round of men's doubles, but each reached the second round of mixed doubles.
USC has a tremendous heritage in tennis, dating back more than 50 years. The Trojans have won 22 NCAA championships, 15 by the men and seven by the women, including three men's titles under Dick Leach (in 1991, 1993 and 1994).
NEWS TO NOTE...
Gillespie Named National Coach of the YearUSC baseball coach Mike Gillespie, who guided the Trojans to their 12th national championship, has been named National Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball.
Gillespie shared the award with Cal State Northridge's Mike Batesole, who guided his team to a 37-19 record, despite losing most of his players after the school eliminated baseball as a sport, then restored it.
On the way to the national title, Gillespie and the Trojans compiled a 49-17 record, including five straight victories after they lost their first game in the College World Series. Gillespie is one of only two title-winning head coaches to also play for a championship team. He was a member of USC's 1961 national champs, coached by Rod Dedeaux.
The Touchdown Club Can Put You in Hawaii
Here's your chance to win a free trip to Hawaii and help the football team at the same time. It's simple--just join the Touchdown Club.
To be a member, pick a pledge amount that you plan to contribute for every touchdown USC scores this season (bowl game included). There are three amounts to choose from: $1, $3 or $5 per touchdown. At the end of the season, the athletic department will notify you of the final touchdown count and how much your pledge amount is. Last year, the team scored 29 touchdowns in 11 games.
Once you make your payment, you will be entered in one of three special drawings sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines and the Ilikai Hotel.
Those who pledge $1 will have a chance to win two round trip coach tickets to Hawaii. Those who pledge $3 will be entered in the drawing for two round trip tickets to a 1999 football away game. And those who pledge $5 will have a chance to win a dream week for two in Hawaii, including round trip coach airfare and five nights at the Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu. Winners will be notified by mail.
No pledge or donation is necessary to enter. Entry forms are available in Heritage Hall, room 203A.
To make a pledge, or for more information, call Mark Long, assistant director of development, at (213) 740-4155. All donations for the Touchdown Club will be used to improve the football facilities.
USC Report Offers Substantial Discount
Nobody covers the USC sports scene like USC Report--and members of The Committee, Cardinal & Gold and Women of Troy qualify for a sizable discount for this exciting newspaper.
An annual subscription to USC Report is $47.95, but the above donors can order the publication for only $30. If you're a member of one of these groups, simply identify yourself when placing your order. (USC Report has a list of all major donors.) Scholarship Club members automatically receive free copies of the 16-page tabloid.
USC Report, which features columns and articles by veteran sportswriters John Hall, Loel Schrader and Mitch Chortkoff, is published weekly during football season and monthly from January to June (18 issues in all). During football season, the paper offers its readers weekly game analysis, player features, locker-room comments, complete statistics, previews of upcoming games and recruiting news. It is mailed first class.
To order USC Report, call 1-800-526-9307.
Are You Ready To Be a Monday Morning Quarterback?
Here's your chance to ask coach Paul Hackett questions after USC football games this fall.
Monday Morning Quarterback Club luncheons will be held in Town & Gown, following 10 of the 12 games (from September 14 through November 23, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.). After lunch, coach Hackett will discuss each game and answer questions from the floor.
In the past, luncheon guests purchased tickets at the door. This year, for the first time, you can purchase full-season memberships for either $250 or $500.
These include admission and lunch for all 10 meetings, five raffle tickets at each meeting, free parking on campus, a Monday Morning Quarterback Club polo shirt and a tax deduction of either $80 or $280, depending on which membership you choose. The $500 membership also includes recognition in the program at the football awards dinner. Proceeds from the luncheons help purchase senior trophies.
To sign up for a season-long membership, please contact Brian Luft, assistant director of development, at (213) 740-4160. (There will be no luncheons after the Purdue and Notre Dame games, or after the two byes.)
You can also purchase luncheon tickets on a weekly basis. The public is welcome, but members of athletic support groups save $5 on each ticket.
Cardinal & Gold License Plate Frames Are Available by Phone
You can now order Cardinal & Gold license plate frames through the University Bookstore's toll-free phone number.
To order your frame, phone (800) 447-8620, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The frames, which cost $38 each, are not available in the Bookstore.
Make Picnics Your Game Day Tradition
The football team has a great home schedule this fall, and game days will be even more fun if you attend the pre-game picnics. Football, food and good companionship: what could be better?
There will be eight picnics this season--one before all seven home games, including Homecoming), and one before the UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. They will begin three hours before kickoff.
The cost of each picnic, including all you can eat and drink, is $25 each for members of Scholarship Club, Committee, Cardinal & Gold and Women of Troy and one guest, and $30 for each additional adult guest. Tickets for children 12 and under are $15. Coliseum picnics will be held next to the Olympic statutes at the peristyle end of the stadium. In case of rain, the athletic department will arrange an alternate site.
Besides great food and drink, the picnics will also feature special guests and satellite TV of other games.
Reservations, which can be taken care of by mail, phone or fax, must be made by noon on the Wednesday prior to each picnic. Phone and fax reservations will be accepted only if guaranteed with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Discover Card). All reservations should include a list of guests attending with the reserving member.
For additional information and picnic reservations, please call (213) 740-4155, or fax your reservations to (213) 740-1306.
