It was great seeing so many people this past weekend at our Athletics Hall of Fame Gala Friday evening and our Homecoming Football Game Saturday. It was a tremendous celebration of our rich tradition and wonderful to see so many past, present, and future Owls at this weekend’s events.

Speaking of these two amazing Temple events, here are some nice visuals from our Hall of Fame Gala where we inducted a stellar class of eight individuals - All-American golfer Walter Brown, two-time MAC Baseball Player of the Year Earle Chew, NBA first round draft pick Mardy Collins, men’s fencing All-America Geoffrey Ham, women’s lacrosse All-American and National Champion Barb Hick Questa, men’s gymnastics three-time All-American Michael Moran, All-American women’s fencer Dr. Kamali Thompson, and longtime football administrator Nadia Batson-Harvin. Click here to watch the video of the ceremony.

As always Homecoming was great day to celebrate Temple University and Temple Athletics. Thankfully the weather held off for the most part. The parking lot was filled, and the atmosphere was festive and lively. The light rain in the second quarter thankfully stopped in time for our band to perform and welcome back so many alumni members to take part in the performance. We also were able to recognize our new Hall of Fame Class in front of our Homecoming crowd.

It brings me great pleasure to share that the Temple Open, the largest collegiate fencing open in the nation, has been renamed the Coach Nikki Franke Classic in honor of our beloved former coach. Coach Franke led the program for 50 years before retiring in August 2022. She not only was the first and only head coach in program history before handing the keys over to former Temple All-American Jennie Salmon, but she is the winningest women’s coach in Temple history with 898 victories, including the 1992 NCAA Championship.

Home game times were announced for the upcoming men’s and women’s basketball season as the 2023-24 campaigns get underway in less than a month with a doubleheader at The Liacouras Center on Nov. 6.

Single-game tickets are on sale now by visiting OwlsTix.com. Call the Temple Ticket Sales Office at 215-204-8499 about full and partial season ticket packages.

Men’s Crew opens its fall season under new coach Brendan Cunningham at the Navy Day Regatta this Sunday (Oct. 15) on the Schuylkill River. The Owls will then travel to Boston to take part in the Head of the Charles on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams competed at the Paul Short Run on September 30 without their top runners, Elvira Bredin and Graham Thomas. The men’s team finished 22nd out of 43 squads, while the women’s team ended up in 42nd out of 44. Cole Frank led the men with a 39th place showing (out of 400) while Elsa Chan led the women with a 64th place finish (out of 300).

Field Hockey is mired in a four-game skid and has not been able to find the back of the cage in the current stretch. The team is 6-6 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST Conference. The team plays Georgetown in Towson, Md. Friday before hosting Delaware on Alumnae Day Sunday.

Football fell to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in AAC play with losses at Tulsa and home against UTSA. QB E.J. Warner was named to the AAC Honor Roll Monday He had 42 completions on a school-record 65 attempts, for 472 yards and five touchdowns. The game marked his fourth career 300-yard passing game, and second over 400 yards. The Owls travel to new AAC member North Texas this Saturday (Noon, ESPNU).

Golf placed 6th at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic before traveling to the West Coast for the Bill Cullum Invitational where they posted another Top 10 finish with an 8th place showing. Aidan Emmerich led the Owls in that tournament, shooting a one-over 217 to finish eighth in the 84-player field.

Women’s Rowing, which had an exhibition session with Rutgers on Oct. 7, officially opens its fall season at the Navy Day Regatta this Sunday (Oct 15).

Men’s Soccer posted its first win under new head coach Bryan Green, defeating Florida Atlantic, 3-0, at the Temple Sports Complex on Oct. 4. Felix Ewald, who scored twice, earned Soccer Six Player of the Week honors. After six days off, the team had to travel to defending NCAA Champion and #10 Syracuse with the Owls pulling off the upset, 2-1. Next up for our Owls is a Saturday home match against South Florida.

Women’s Soccer dropped two matches to fall to 2-8-3 overall and 0-4 in conference play. The team has a two-game homestand this week, taking on new members Rice Thursday (7 pm) and UTSA Sunday (2 pm).

Men’s Tennis saw Dante Russo and Gregoire Barety compete in the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla this past weekend. Russo and Barety earned participation in the Pre-Qualifying Singles Draw of 256 players. Russo picked up the lone win, splitting his two matches. The team is back in action at the ITA Regionals this week in Lynchburg, Va.

Women’s Tennis had four Owl advance out of the ITA Women’s Northeast Regional Championships to qualify for the Super Regionals. Maiko Uchijima, Samantha Nanere, Marianthi Christoforidou, and Thamara Frasser Kawaratani will represent Temple with Christoforidou and Frasser Kawaratani competing as a doubles pair and Uchijima and Nanere competing in singles action and also automatically qualifying as a doubles pair.

Women’s Volleyball has won two of its last three matches to improve to 12-5 overall and 3-3 in AAC competition. Taylor Davenport leads the Owls and ranks second in the conference in kills (3.89) and points (4.65) per game. The team plays host to East Carolina this Friday (6 pm) and Saturday (1 pm).

Special shoutout to our Athlete of the Week since our last edition of From The Nest. Men’s Cross Country – Cole Frank for OwlSports.com Athlete of the Week (10/2); Men’s Soccer – Felix Ewald named OwlSports.com Athlete of the Week (10/9) and Philadelphia Soccer Six Player of the Week (10/10); Juan Zepeda named AAC Rookie of the Week (10/2); Women’s Volleyball – Taylor Davenport named OwlSports.com Athlete of the Month (September).

Congratulations to two of our all-time greats, Dr. Nikki Franke and Tina Sloan Green, who will be honored by the Institute for Sport and Social Justice on Oct. 21 in Orlando. The two iconic coaches are being recognized along with Dr. Alpha Alexander and Linda Green, Esq. as founders of The Black Women in Sport Foundation. In total five sports other game changers will be honored at this year’s Gala.

It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that one of our former men’s basketball players, Jan Post, was tragically killed in an automobile accident on Oct. 7. A member of our 1991 NCAA Elite Eight team, Jan is survived by his former wife, Stacey, and their three children, Jonathan, Colin, and Julia, as well as his father, Jan, and brother Derk. He was 55.

In just over three weeks the Temple Sports Complex will play host to the four-team BIG EAST Field Hockey Championships. The semifinals will be held on Friday, Nov. 3 with the Championship match taking place on Sunday, Nov. 5. Click here to purchase tickets for what will be an exceptional event.

The entire Temple University community is still mourning the loss of President JoAnne A. Epps, who passed away on Sept. 19, 2023. President Epps stepped into the role in April 2023. She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving students, faculty, staff and alumni at the university, and her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come.

Click here to watch a video of the wonderful Celebration of Life Service for President Epps.

I am very excited to welcome Bryan Senior as a member of our department’s leadership team. Our new Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director, Finance & Administration/CFO comes to Temple from Florida State University where he played a pivotal role in managing the Noles’ budget and financial reporting. Bryan begins his tenure on Monday, October 16th, so be sure to say hello when you see him at our future events.

Temple Talk with Stan Drayton, the popular hour-long football radio show on 97.5 FM the Fanatic is back for another year, but with a new location. Temple Fans can watch the show live on-campus at Maxi’s Pizza, Subs and Bar on Liacouras Walk. Click here for full release and schedule.

Reminder that ESPN+ is the home of Temple Athletics. Watch Temple athletics events via an ESPN+ subscription.

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

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