“Go West, young man” those words were made famous by author Horace Greeley in the late 19th century. For many that expression represents a bye gone era, but for the University of Wyoming and the people of the Equality State, those popular words still hold an important meaning. Sitting in the quiet town of Laramie, the University of Wyoming embodies the spirit of the western settler, perseverance and hard work will eventually lead to great things. College AD recently had the chance to speak with Wyoming Athletic Director Tom Burman, and get a firsthand account of the current state of Cowboy and Cowgirl athletics and what the future may hold. From facility upgrades to fundraising and everything in between, it’s an exciting time to be a Cowboy fan, alumnus or student.
Fundraising
Being the only game in town certainly has its advantages, but being the only game in the smallest Division I market has its challenges too. Home to a student population of just 13,000, including undergraduate and graduate students, the university makes up a significant portion of the 45,000 residents within a 45 mile radius of Laramie. With such a small local base, Cowboy AD Tom Burman has his work cut out for him when it comes to fundraising, but Berman isn’t one to back down from a challenge. You don’t become an athletic director at the age of 34 without knowing how to work hard.
With an economy based largely on the oil and gas industry, Burman and his team know that there is money available. It’s his job to make sure that the money ends up back at the university through gifts and donations. To accomplish this, Burman spends a lot of his time on the road visiting the Cowboy alumni that are scattered throughout the country. While catching a big whale to write a fat check is always nice, it takes more than just a few big donors to fund an athletic department. To help offset the cost of scholarships and other cost’s as needed, the university turns to its Cowboy Joe Club. Founded in 1972, the Cowboy Joe Club has grown to raise nearly $5 million a year for Wyoming athletics. Since being named athletics director in 2006, Burman has overseen the clubs annual revenue grow from $2.1 million to $4.61 million in 2014. What separates the Cowboy Joe Club from similar fundraising arms at other universities is that Wyoming does not tie season tickets to the club. Still, in 2015, the club is expected to reach 5,000 plus members, making it one of the largest fundraising clubs in the Mountain West Conference.
On The Field
College athletics are more than just fundraising. Fans and alumni, more than anything want to see a quality product of the field, court or diamond. In 2013, Burman and the University of Wyoming made a splash when they were able to lure Craig Bohl away from North Dakota, where he had just won his third straight FCS national championship. While the Cowboys only won four games in 2014, Burman feels that Bohl is the perfect man for the job and there is no doubt that the Cowboy football program is headed in the right directed. In 2015, Wyoming will be seeking to make its first bowl appearance since the 2011 New Mexico Bowl.
While the football team is still looking to hit its stride, the men’s basketball team, led by fourth year coach Larry Shyatt, has found its stride. The Cowboys have reached the postseason every year under Shyatt, playing in the CBI tournament the last three seasons before making a trip to the NCAA tournament in 2015. Shyatt, who is in his second stint at Wyoming, after serving as an assistant in the 1990’s came back to Laramie after spending the previous seven seasons at Florida. He was part of the Gators back-to-back national championship runs in 2006 and 2007.
Under AD Burman’s guidance many of the other Cowboy and Cowgirl teams have also experienced success. The women’s basketball team has played in the NIT four times, winning the tournament in 2007. The Cowgirls also made an appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2008. The wrestling program participated in the NCAA championships in 2012, the school’s first appearance since 1996. Coach Mark Branch, who Burman hired in 2008, has been named Western Wrestling Conference Coach of the Year three times. Wyoming has also sent individuals to participate in NCAA tournaments in Swimming and Diving and Track and Field.
Fan Support
Support in the community is at an all time high, and fans are showing up in large numbers to watch Wyoming play. Since 2007, the university has seen a 30% increase in football season ticket sales. In 2011, Wyoming sold over 10,000 football season tickets for the first time in program history. Fans also helped the women’s basketball, women’s tennis and wrestling programs rank nationally in attendance figures. During its march to the NCAA tournament in 2015, the men’s basketball team played in front of more than 6,300 fans, good enough to finish fifth in the Mountain West. The 6,310 fans on average are nearly half of the universities entire enrollment.
Over the last year, the university has also taken on a rebranding effort in order to help Wyoming athletics stand apart from its competitors. It was up to Nick Popplewell, Wyoming’s Assistant AD for Marketing and Branding, to devise a plan that would help Wyoming stand out. His answer, was a beautifully simplistic slogan. Wyoming is now the “Team of the West”. The slogan captures what Wyoming believes it is all about, an old school gritty attitude that embodies the characteristics of the western spirit. Feedback from alumni and fans has been tremendous, and the athletic department now uses the slogan as a secondary logo.
Facilities
As universities fight to stay relevant and attractive to potential student-athletes, facilities are quickly becoming much more important than anything else. Wyoming is doing its part. In 2012, the university announced it would begin a facilities overhaul, revealing its facilities master plan. As part of the plan, a $30 million renovation to the Arena-Auditorium, which is home to men’s and women’s basketball teams, was announced. Phase I of the renovations were completed in the fall of 2014, just in time for the beginning of basketball season. Also included in the plan was a $1.2 million golf training facility. The state of the art training center houses four hitting bays and simulators that allow Wyoming golfers the ability to hit the links, no matter what the weather looks like outside.
Perhaps Tom Burman’s biggest accomplishment to date occurred earlier this month when he and the university announced plans for a $44 million High Altitude Performance Center. The new facility, which will be financed by $24 million in private money and an additional $20 million by the state, will be paid for in its entirety by the time it is built. The state of the art facility will be completely debt free, a feat which is rare in today’s day and age of funding through loans and bonds. Fundraising is also off to a great start with the university receiving a gift of $3 million from the Rochelle family, which the state has already doubled.
The new facility, which Wyoming hopes to start construction on by 2016, will take the current 48,000 square foot Rochelle Center and turn it into a state of the art 126,000 square foot training facility. Laramie, Wyoming sits at an altitude of 7,200 feet and the Cowboys plan to make that elevation into a training advantage. Officials spent time with the U.S. Olympic team in Colorado Springs to learn how exactly they could take advantage of the altitude. As a result, the new High Altitude Center will incorporate specific areas that best allow Wyoming athletes to take advantage of thin air.
Student-Athlete Academic Success
It’s easy to forget sometimes, but the athletes we watch on the field are students first. In order to better serve the student-athletes, Burman during his tenure has added three new positions to the Office of Academic Support. He even went as far as creating a new Eligibility Coordinator for Athletics. With the new, stringent Academic Progress Rate (APR) instituted by NCAA in place, Cowboy and Cowgirl athletics have risen to the top of the Mountain West class. In 2012-2013, Wyoming took home both of the Mountain West’s Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. Currently, every athletic team that the university fields meets the APR standard and several sports including football and men’s basketball set all time high APR scores.
It is clear that the University of Wyoming is committed winning both on and off of the field. As long as Tom Burman is at the helm, there is no doubt that Wyoming will continue to grow and invest in its student-athletes, putting the Cowboys and Cowgirls in the best possible position to succeed.
Feature image via M. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
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