The Winter Season is upon us and what a start it has been for Temple Athletics. First, Fencing competed at the newly renamed Coach Nikki Franke Classic this past weekend and had a great showing with four Top 8 individual finishes. On Monday, the basketball season opened with a doubleheader at the Liacouras Center. Our women scored their most points in a game in 40 years in a lopsided win over Delaware State while the Adam Fisher Era got off to a nice start with the men easily defeating UMES. Looking forward to watching all our teams compete this winter!

On October 30th, American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco announced that Army West Point would be joining the conference as a football only member starting with the 2024 season. Temple joins the rest of the conference members in welcoming our new member school and look forward to competing against them on the gridiron.

Here is a roundtable discussion with Commissioner Aresco, West Point Superintendent LTG Steve Gilland, Athletic Director Mike Buddie, and Football Coach Jeff Monken.

On November 1, Temple Athletics held an Advance session for junior and senior student-athletes. This session featured Luke Fedlam, a Partner at Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP, who leads the firm’s sports Law Practice and regularly advises a range of clients across the country – from student athletes transitioning into professional sports, professional athletes navigating life on a team, to retiring athletes creating the game plan for their life after sports. His presentation to our student athletes centered on business topics such as contracts, W-2 filings and taxes.

Athletics hosted a Temple Experience Day in conjunction with the Volleyball match against USF on November 3. A total 426 students from nine elementary schools were in attendance for the day. Here is a list of the schools that came on campus for the event – Paul L. Dunbar (grades 5-8); Northeast Community Propel Academy (grades 6-8); Thurgood Marshall (grades 6-8); Robert P. Pollock (grade 8); Bache-Martin Middle School (grades 6-8); Davis Family School (grades 5-6); Yorkship (grade 5); Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences (grade 6-8); and Duckery (grade 7-8).

At our Football win over Navy at Lincoln Financial Field, we hosted the 100 Black Men organization for a Temple Gameday Experience. A total of 103 children attended and received a Stadium Tour of Lincoln Financial Field and the opportunity to enjoy the Temple Fan Tailgate Experience.

Men’s Basketball made Adam Fisher’s head coaching debut a memorable one with an 85-65 win over UMES on Monday. Returnees Hysier Miller (17 points, 5 assists) and Jahlil White (15 points, 14 rebounds) led the way, while freshman Zion Stanford (14 points) and Shane Dezonie (12 points) also shined.

It was a memorable opener for Women’s Basketball as the Owls scored their most points in 40 years in defeating Delaware State, 109-43, in the opening game of Monday’s doubleheader. A record eight Owls scored in double figures with freshman Jaleesa Molina leading the way with 16 points. The 66-point margin of victory is a new program high.

Men’s Crew completed their first fall season under new coach Brendan Cunningham at the Head of the Schuylkill on Oct. 29.Adam Oliver and Kenneth Raynor won the pairs event, while the Owls also recorded four other top four finishes at the regatta.

Men’s Cross Country placed sixth at the American Athletic Conference Championship on Oct. 28 with Cole Frank placing 22nd to lead the Owls.

As for Women’s Cross Country,the Owls finished ninth overall, and Elsa Chan garnered All-Conference honors with a ninth-place individual finish.

The No. 11 Fencing team closed out its preseason schedule on a strong note, with four top-8 finishes and 11 top-15 finishes. The Owls were led by Lindsey Minor (epee) and Elizabeth Novoseltseva (foil) who both tied for third in their respective weapons.

After defeating Quinnipiac on the road in a thrilling overtime game, Field Hockey earned the third seed in the BIG EAST Tournament that the Owls hosted at the Temple Sports Complex. Temple, however, lost in the semifinals to two-seed Old Dominion, 2-0, to see its season come to an end. The Owls finished with an 11-8 overall record, 4-3 in conference play.

Following a bye week, Football and QB EJ Warner returned to action and defeated visiting Navy, 32-18. Warner set a new career high for completion percentage in a game (82%) and had his fourth career 400-yard passing game, the most by any Temple quarterback in program history. WR Zae Baines also had a big game, setting new career highs with seven receptions and 132 receiving yards.

Women’s Rowing had a strong showing at the Head of the Schuylkill with the Championship 8 coming in second and the Freshman 8 taking the gold. The Owls ended their fall season on Nov. 5 at the highly competitive Princeton Chase with the Varsity 8 placing 23rd in the 57-boat field.

Following an impressive win over Tulsa, Men’s Soccer gave #3 SMU all it could handle on the final game of the season, falling on the road, 2-1, on Nov. 1. The loss eliminated the Owls from the six-team conference tournament, but the first season under head coach Bryan Green, which included a road win over defending NCAA Champion Syracuse, has the program heading in the right direction.

Women’s Soccer dropped its final game of the season at UAB and finished with a 2-13-3 record, 0-9 in conference play. It was announced last week that head coach Nick Bochette would not return for the 2024 season.

Women’s Tennis doubles pair Samantha Nanere and Maiko Uchijima advanced to the Round of 8 at the ITA Fall National Championships. It marked the second straight year that a Temple women’s tennis doubles pair advanced to the quarterfinals after Uchijima and Jamie Wei’s run a season ago.

It was a rough two weeks for Women’s Volleyball as the Owls lost four straight to fall to 15-11 overall and 5-9 record in the American Athletic Conference. Hosting one of the top teams in the conference in USF, Temple had a season high 1,288 fans in attendance at its last home match on Nov. 3.

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.

Temple Talk with Adam Fisher debuted on Nov. 2 (6-7 pm) at Maxi's Pizza, Subs and Bar which is located on the Temple University main campus. (1926 Liacouras Walk). The 12-episode show airs live on The Varsity Network App and is tape-delayed on 1210 AM WPHT, the home of Temple Basketball. Temple Women’s Basketball will be featured on each show with second-year head coach Diane Richardson and players talking about their season.

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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