Last Wednesday, we gathered with more than 100 of our donors and supporters for the second annual Cougars Champions Fund Appreciation Dinner at Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville.  

The evening provided an opportunity to show our appreciation to a fast-growing group of donors that are positively impacting SIUE Athletics. We launched the Cougars Champions Fund in 2024, and in two short years we have curated or strengthened relationships with numerous donors that are contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in support of Division I athletics in the Metro East.  

To view a photo gallery of the event, please CLICK HERE:  

Head Men's Basketball Coach Brian Barone passionately started the event on behalf of our head coaches, sharing how grounding himself and his program in appreciation has been a positive approach to navigating the uncertainties and challenges of this era of college athletics.  

Associate AD Ashley Beaton Simpson moderated an excellent panel with our student-athletes, including Taylor Babb (women's soccer), Harrison Alexander (men's basketball), Kiyoko Proctor (women's basketball), Bobby Pauly (men's soccer), and Daniel Gierer (baseball).   

Finally, I had the privilege of sharing a few updates and thoughts about the State of SIUE Athletics. Of course, they were centered around Appreciation, one of our Cougar Core values. Specifically, I spoke to our donors about Appreciation of Success, Appreciation of the Opportunity, and Appreciation of Others.   

Appreciation of Success 

I was able to recap some really important moments of success that occurred over the past year, including:  

1. Championship Teams – I highlighted three impressive championship teams from 2025-26.  

•  Wrestling, in Jeremy Spates' final season, led SIUE Wrestling to the MAC West Divisional Championship  

• Baseball, under the direction of OVC Coach of the Year Sean Lyons, won the OVC regular season title outright. The Cougars' first Division I title was especially noteworthy given that the OVC ranked as the 10th best league nationally in college baseball.  

• Women's tennis, led by OVC Coach of the Year Adam Albertsen, claimed another OVC title with an undefeated regular season. 

2. Pro Cougs – I was able to spotlight five former Cougars that are excelling in the professional ranks and been exciting to follow this summer.  

• Arnas Sakenis – Played for the Miami Heat in NBA Summer League and has now started his professional career in Azerbaijan.  

• Ray'Sean Taylor – Finished an incredible rookie season in England, averaging more than 18 points per game, and now plays professionally in France.  

• Lucas Spence – Competing in the Houston Astros organization, was called up to the big leagues in mid-July. Spence appeared in 14 games for the Astros, including making 10 starts in center field.  

• Avery Owusu-Asiedu – Arguably the hottest hitter in all of professional baseball in August, AOA went on a tear for the Arizona Diamondbacks AA affiliate Armadillo Sod Poodles. Owusu-Asiedu hit .409 with 14 home runs in 25 games played in August.  

• Ryan Niedzwiedz – The 2026 OVC Player of the Year, Niedzwiedz was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and has begun his professional career.  

3. Historic Jersey Partnership – Over the past summer, we expanded our partnership with First Community Credit Union in a historic way. FCCU is the exclusive jersey partner for SIUE Athletics, helping us take advantage of an important new opportunity to generate revenue in the modern era of college athletics.  

4. Graduation Success Rate – The most noteworthy and important successes of the 2025-26 year for SIUE Athletics happened in November, when we learned from the NCAA that our Graduation Success Rate ranked tied for first nationally among Division I public institutions.   

Appreciation of the Opportunity 

I spoke to the group about the opportunity ahead of us to navigate the current landscape, focusing 10 percent on the problems and challenges every University is facing, and highlighting the 90 percent of strengths and advantages that SIUE possesses.  

Every institution is navigating the current uncertainties of college athletics, including the legal landscape, evolving rules for eligibility and NIL/revenue share, budget challenges stemming from new expense lines and decreases in revenue, and continued conference instability and realignment. Every AD could bemoan the budgetary impact of inflation, as providing a first-class experience for student-athletes costs significantly more today than it did even a few short years ago.  

The 90 percent of my remarks focused on our position of strength and our opportunity, which is much more unique to SIUE in today's higher education landscape. This is true primarily because of three main factors:  

1. University Strength – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is experiencing a period of significant momentum. Earlier this week, SIUE announced enrollment data for Fall 2026, which underscored this strength. Our overall enrollment grew more than 6 percent for the second-straight year to 13,663. SIUE welcomed 2,323 first-time, first-year students, surpassing the previous record by nearly 200 students. The record incoming class represents a 26.4% increase from Fall 2025 and a 49.9% increase from Fall 2024. 

2. Community Strength – Just like our University is experiencing growth and momentum, so is our community. Economic development, community partnerships, and exciting projects are visible not only here in Edwardsville but throughout the Metro East. Thanks to partnerships like those we have with Great Rivers & Routes, the City of Edwardsville, the YMCA, and others, every year there are more Cougars fans and more SIUE alumni calling our community home.    

3. Alignment and Vision – Another aspect of our opportunity here at SIUE right now is the alignment of our leadership. As the AD, I am fortunate to serve with a group of University and SIU System leaders that believe in college athletics and its role at SIUE. The SIU Board of Trustees, SIU President Dr. Dan Mahony, SIUE Chancellor Dr. James T. Minor, and my fellow Vice Chancellors are direct supporters of our progress and our vision.   

Appreciation of Others 

Finally, the reason we were in the room at Sunset Hills Country Club, to say thank you to our donors that are helping us generate the impact, the engagement, and the investment that will fuel our continued success. The results and the response from our network over the past few years has been significant.   

Last year, we announced the creation of the Cougars Impact Network, integrating our revenue generating efforts under one brand with three different focuses:  

1. Impact Donors – Thanks to the generosity to those that attended the Cougars Champions Fund dinner and so many others, philanthropic giving to SIUE Athletics has increased substantially. The unrestricted giving to SIUE Athletics last year reached more than $400,000, in addition to record gross revenues for the Red & Black presented by Simmons Hanly Conroy (gala) and the Cougars Champions Classic (golf outing).  

2. Impact Fans – Everyone that supports the Cougars, is an Impact Fan. This includes the season ticket holders, those that come to 2-3 games a year for any sport, host a group, buys SIUE gear at our games or in a local store, grabs a popcorn and a Michelob Ultra at the concession stand, buys a Cougar Red Lager in Eddieville, and so much more. Our attendance and ticketing revenue growth, especially basketball season tickets, has been staggering. This month, we hit 500 season ticket holders for the first time in school history. The community is continuing to show up at First Community Arena!  

3. Impact Partners – Corporate and community partners are important members of our network and positively impact our ability to engage with our community and build our SIUE brand.  Already under contract in 2026-27, we have 57 corporate partners that our committing meaningful revenue through mutually-beneficial relationships with the Cougars.  

As you can see, we have much to appreciate with SIUE Athletics. We appreciate our success, we appreciate our current opportunities, and we appreciate the people positively impacting our student-athletes.  

I am personally reflecting on starting my fourth year as the AD at SIUE and my 10th year overall as a college athletics director. While that is hard for me to believe and makes me feel old, it mostly makes me appreciate the opportunities I have had and the opportunities ahead of us.  

I appreciate the opportunity to serve as your AD, and I appreciate your support!  

Roll Cougs!  

Andrew