People care about what we do. 
 
I took many notes throughout my four days at the 2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Convention in Orlando. But that statement – people care about what we do – kept ringing through my mind as I reflected on the experience.  
 
It was obvious, from start to finish, how much the folks filling the halls of the World Center Marriot care about what they do, who they do it for, and who they do it with. You heard it in the sincerity of the panelists and in the speeches of the award winners who all made it a point to credit a mentor or teammate for aiding their success. It was evident in the advice shared between veterans and youngsters and the many ways people documented the lessons being doled out. 
 
That passion made it easy to connect with my peers and soak in the information. Between sessions and receptions, I attended 25 learning and networking opportunities throughout the convention, and I can honestly say I took something meaningful from each one. 
 
A journalist at my core, I was thrilled to see that storytelling was a major theme for the week, and I took full advantage. We heard from ESPN storytellers including Andrea Adelson, Elliott Munoz and Luke Knox, and author Dawn Dugle. There were several sessions in which fellow communicators across college and professional athletics discussed how the stories we tell affect the culture and business of the departments and institutions we serve. 

As a first-time attendee and the only person from my comms team at convention, I went into this with a feeling of responsibility to go to everything – when I started making my schedule on the event app, there were numerous times I double-booked, or even triple-booked, myself within a time slot. Throughout convention, the experienced attendees kept reiterating that some of the most valuable lessons are the ones you learn in the hallways, not sitting in a session. I found that to be true after some wise words from Ohio State Associate Director – Communications, Maria Slovikovski. We met in-person for the first time Monday morning at the CSC Women Coffee Hour after seeing each other on CSC Women Zoom calls for nearly two years. Slovikovski told me not to feel pressure to go to everything. She spoke on the importance of leaving space in your convention schedule to take a break and digest what you’re learning. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that. Her advice, simple as it sounds, allowed me to give myself grace and shifted my mentality as I reworked the crazy schedule I initially put together. 

 

The next three days of convention were very intentional. I thoughtfully selected which sessions to attend and really applied what I was hearing to my role at UTRGV. On Divisional Day, I found the “Defining Media” and “Workflows” sessions particularly useful for the upcoming endeavor of taking on UTRGV’s first football season. I picked up helpful tips on how to teach student workers how to write with confidence and clarity. I soaked up info on handling crossover content, covering programs at all levels of success, and working with stats. I joined two CSC/NACMA collaborative sessions about content strategies for multiple channels of communication and using storytelling to fuel business growth, which provided great insight into just how vital athletic communicators are to the success of college athletics. 

 

Ideas started popping into my mind as I heard the talented individuals talk about their experiences and practices. I sought out more of those hallway connections and let myself enjoy being surrounded by people with goals similar to mine. During the week-ending CSC Special Awards Luncheon, I was recognized for earning a National Runner-Up award in the Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest. 

 

I felt, and still feel, so reinvigorated and inspired after one of the most pivotal weeks of my career. 

 

The work we do as athletic communicators is so important and special. We work so uniquely with a range of people, and we impact every area of college athletics – the student-athlete experience, recruiting and retention, revenue generation, culture and branding. It’s not an easy job, but people care about what we do, and nobody cares more than the dedicated SIDs working tirelessly behind the scenes. 

 

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Editor’s Note: I was fortunate to attend the convention as one of six recipients of the NCAA Inclusion CSC Convention Grant selected by the CSC and NCAA Leadership Development and Media Coordination and Statistics staffs along with Kensley Walters (Conference USA), Coreyon Chester (Texas Woman’s University), Devanée Williams (Eckerd College), Dawnisha Franklin (Plattsburgh State), and Jalon Avent (Rutgers-Newark). Major thanks to NCAA Assistant Director of Media Coordination and Statistics Marcus Thatcher for being an incredible point-person for the grant and setting us up with incredible opportunities (which I’ll dive into in August after our trip to the NCAA national office.) 

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CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Southern Illinois Women’s Volleyball program finalized its 2025 transfer class with the addition of junior college star Julia Brazil, Head Coach Brittany Harry announced Wednesday.

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil joins Ainara Fernandes, Emma Lade, and Neveah Laster as the team’s transfers for the 2025 season. She will join a core of experienced outside hitters as another quality option.

“Julia is another transfer pin that is going to provide really high-level depth to the position,” Harry said.

During her two seasons at Garden City Community College, she recorded 611 kills over 55 matches. She tallied 75 blocks and 452 digs to go along with 73 service aces as well. During her time, she had 35 matches with double-digit kills, with 16 in 2023 and 19 in 2024, including two matches with 20 in her sophomore season. Her 2024 season earned her a selection to the KJCCC All-Conference Second Team.

Harry believes her attitude and natural talent will help her transition quickly to the Division I level.

“She averaged 3.3 kills/set as a sophomore and she plays with a pretty high intensity on the court which we love to see. She will have to acclimate to the D1 level but she has a lot of offensive tools that she can rely on to speed up that learning curve and we expect for her to be in the mix on both pins in August.”

Southern Illinois is 72 days away from its season opener at the SHSU Invitational.

FOLLOW THE SALUKIS

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on X (@SIU_Volleyball), Instagram (@SIU_Volleyball) and Facebook (SalukiVolleyball). Fans can also download the “Salukis” Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.     

 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Purdue Fort Wayne’s Lillian Hurd and Boden Genovese qualified for the USATF U20 outdoor Championships on Thursday, June 19, in Eugene, Oregon.

Hurd will compete in the 400 meter at 3:46 p.m. PT/6:46 p.m. ET on Thursday, with a chance to advance to the final on Friday at 4:56 p.m PT/7:56 p.m. ET. Live results can be found here and the up-to-date schedule can be found here.

Hurd was a member of the 4×400 and 3×100 relays that won at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships earlier this year. She also won the 400 meter and 4×400 relay title at the Horizon League Indoor Championships and was named the Indoor Freshman of the Year. She had a personal best of 55.64 in the 400 at the Vertklasse Meeting on April 4.

Genovese qualified in the 1,500 meter and 800 meter, but will not compete in Eugene. Genovese had a personal best of 3:52.07 in the 1500 at the Spartan Invite and his 1:52.69 in the 800 at the Mount Union Last Chance Meet was his PR.

It is the third year in a row a Mastodon has competed in the U20 Championships. Austin Hall competed in the 10,000 meter in 2023 and Haylee Hile competed in the steeplechase in 2024. Hall took second in the 10K, only bested by Ethan Coleman of Notre Dame. This is the first year that student-athletes from both the men’s and women’s programs have earned a spot at the U20 Championships in the same year.

 

~ Feel The Rumble ~

EIU Award Winner List
 
Eastern Illinois women’s basketball forward Macy McGlone has been named the EIU Female Athlete of the Year for the 2024-25 season.
 
McGlone won the award for the second straight year after winning her second straight Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year award.  She was a dominant force in the league on both ends of the floor ranking first in the OVC in rebounding and blocks while second in the conference in both scoring and field goal percentage.  She was fourth in the league in free throw percentage.  On the year McGlone averaged 17.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game ranking sixth in the NCAA in rebounds per game.  She once again was among the nation’s leaders in double-doubles posting 18 to rank 11^th in the NCAA.
 
Wrapping up just her third year in an EIU uniform, McGlone rocketed up the EIU career top ten lists during the season.  She finished as the Panthers all-time leader in career double-doubles with 58 which ranks in the OVC all-time top five.  She ended her career ranked third in rebounds, third in blocks, eighth in scoring and tenth in field goal percentage.  In addition, McGlone capped her final year earning Academic All-District honors.  

McGlone was one of four candidates for this award announced at the Panthers end of year awards ceremony (The Billy’s).  She was joined by Kendall Grover (softball), Abby Reinl (soccer) and Corinne Staneart (swimming).
 
EIU will continue the release of its end-of-year awards this week with the Male & Female Athletic Director’s Award set for Thursday and Friday.

Grand Canyon continued its reign atop the Western Athletic Conference with another historic achievement, securing its fifth consecutive WAC Commissioner’s Cup for the 2024-25 academic year.
 
GCU registered 116.8 points to win the cup — awarded to the conference’s top-performing athletic department — for the seventh time overall.

Lopes teams won seven conference championships including two programs that swept regular-season and tournament championships: softball and women’s basketball.

The softball team made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. GCU debuted in the top 25, won an NCAA Tournament game for the third straight year and went 47-8 overall with a 21-2 mark in conference play.

Women’s basketball won its first titles in program history, posting a 32-3 season to debut in the NCAA Tournament with a tight loss to Baylor in the opening round.

In addition to those teams’ four titles, GCU teams also brought home tournament championships in men’s basketball and women’s tennis and another championship in men’s indoor track and field. Men’s golf earned an at-large selection into NCAA Regionals.

 

Since becoming postseason eligible in 2017, GCU has won all seven WAC Commissioner’s Cups for fully completed seasons (the COVID-shortened 2019-20 race only included nine sports). No other program has claimed more than three WAC Commissioner’s Cups.

Men’s tennis and women’s soccer also made appearances in the championships games of WAC Tournament play to add additional points to GCU’s ledger.

 

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2024-25 WAC Commissioner’s Cup final standings
School	Points
1. GCU	116.8
2. Utah Valley	104.5
3. Tarleton State	94.1
4. Abilene Christian	87.4
5. California Baptist	87.3
6. UT Arlington	79.3
7. Seattle U	67.3
8. Southern Utah	52.7
9. Utah Tech	42.6