What a tremendous two weeks for Temple Athletics with great news. We hired a new men’s basketball head coach and there is already great excitement surrounding Adam Fisher as he takes over the program. Football closed out its spring season Saturday with its Cherry and White campaign, but we lead off today’s edition with the story of a special student-athlete, Diana Tiburco.

Congrats to junior fencer Diana Tiburcio on being awarded the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Awarded to juniors and seniors in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, the Goldwater scholarship is considered the most competitive undergraduate scholarship for STEM students who intend a career in research. A junior with a 4.0 GPA in Mechanical Engineering, Diana is one of two Temple students (among 413 nationally) chosen, joining junior Biology major Nala Hamilton.

On April 5 we officially welcomed our new head men’s basketball coach Adam Fisher to Temple with a packed media conference in the Fox-Gittis Room of The Liacouras Center. Coach Fisher displayed the passion we saw throughout the hiring process, and I look forward to working with him as he builds his program.

I also want to thank our incredible search committee that consisted of Kevin Copp, Derek Horne, Jason Ivey, Murray Littlepage, Rick Riddall, Michael Scales and Kelsey Simpson. This group worked tirelessly throughout this important process to help find the right person to lead our men’s basketball program.

What an amazing weekend we just had on campus. Within 24 hours we hosted our first all-female track invitational, a thrilling women’s lacrosse match against #9 Florida and our annual Cherry and White Football Spring Game. A special shoutout to our staff, in particular Lee Roberts and his facilities team and Scott Walcoff and his marketing and promotions team, for all of their hard work in making these events come across in a first-class manner.

It is a Big Week for the Philadelphia Big 5. First, we celebrated this past year with the annual awards banquet Monday. Damian Dunn and Aleah Nelson earned First Team all-Big 5 honors with the men’s basketball team sharing the Big 5 title with Villanova. David Hawkins, one of four men’s basketball players to score 2,000 career points, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Then, this morning, we announced a new era of Philadelphia Big 5 basketball with the inclusion of Drexel on the men’s side starting next season. At a media conference at the New Wells Fargo Center, a new logo was unveiled and an exciting new format for Big 5 play was introduced. Each school will play in a three-team pod system leading up to a championship day at the New Wells Fargo Center. We welcome Drexel into the Big 5 and look forward to a new era of city-series play.

I am humbled to announce that I have been selected to the prestigious NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. I look forward to working with my fellow committee members to ensure the best teams are selected to compete for the national championship.

Congratulations to juniors Brooke Donabedian and Renee Schugman, who closed out the Women’s Gymnastics season on March 31st as they both tied for 18th place at 2023 NCAA Gymnastics Pitt Regional with scores of 9.825. The Donabedian and Schugman selections marked the fifth and sixth times in program history that a Temple gymnast earned a spot at a NCAA Regional floor competition.

Temple Football hosted its annual Cherry and White Spring Game this past weekend. In a format designed to highlight the offense, they did not disappoint, defeating the defense 65-28. The offense converted on many short yardage situations, including going nearly perfect in the redzone. QB E.J. Warner had a productive afternoon, completing 15 of 23 attempts for 152 yards and two touchdowns. QB Quincy Patterson produced two highlight plays, completing a pair of 39-yard touchdown passes to WR Shekuna Kamara and WR John Adams.

Women’s Lacrosse (5-7, 0-3 AAC) opened conference play in late March, facing off against No. 5 JMU on Mar. 25 in the Dukes first season as an affiliate of the American. The Owls dropped 10-8 after posting a five-goal run in the fourth quarter. The Cherry and White then traveled to Cincinnati, where they fell 12-9, followed by a home loss to No. 9 Florida, 17-13.

Women's Track & Field hosted the 4th edition of the Temple Invitational at the Temple Sports Complex. The Owls claimed victory in six events, including Laura Nicholson setting a new school record in the 1500m run, clocking a time of 4:15.89.

Men’s Golf competed in the Princeton Invitational this past weekend. Three golfers finished in the top 31 (Graham Chase 25th, Ethan Whitney 30th, Conor McGrath 31st).

Men’s Crew has had two strong showings especially at Saturday’s Murphy Cup, where the Varsity Eight took home the gold medal for the first time since 2021. The 16th-ranked Owls’ Varsity Eight is 4-1 on the season and took home gold in the Third Varsity Eight and Freshman Four at Saturday’s event.

Women’s Rowing opened its official 2023 spring season at the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 8. The Owls saw four boats advance to the final rounds and the Second Varsity 4 put together the team’s top placement with a third-place finish.

Men's Tennis' 16-game winning streak came to an end last week against the nationally ranked Penn Quakers. Temple bounced back with a win against NJIT on Friday to pick up its 17th victory of the spring before heading to the conference tournament next week in Orlando.

Women's Tennis has won five straight most recently defeating the Villanova Wildcats on Tuesday, April 4. The Owl's Maiko Uchijima and Jamie Wei continue to dominate in doubles play being ranked No. 8 in the country with a 28-1 record this season guiding the team to a 15-4 record.

Temple Football season ticket holders should have received an email on renewing your tickets for what looks to be an exciting 2023 season. The home schedule features games against the Miami Hurricanes, Akron Zips, Norfolk State Spartans, Navy Midshipmen, SMU Mustangs, UTSA Roadrunners, and Memphis Tigers.

TO RENEW YOUR 2023 FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS, CLICK HERE OR CALL THE TEMPLE TICKET SALES OFFICE AT 215- 204-TIXX (8499)!

Please come out and continue to support all our Temple Athletics teams. Below is a link to our composite schedule.

Mark your calendars for Temple University is hosting the 2023 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. The dates are Friday-Sunday, May 26-28.

It was great seeing everyone on campus this past weekend at the Cherry and White game. Hope to see more great crowds the next two weeks at our women’s lacrosse games as the team looks to close the season strong.

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