Recently, there has been a lot of discussion around college athletics, specifically Missouri State University’s athletics programs as the university moves to hire a new president. The landscape has changed with the evolution of the transfer portal; name, image and likeness payments to athletes; and the realignment of conferences.

The Bears have been successful

I’m in my 13th year as president. Kyle Moats has been director of athletics during my entire tenure. We’re the senior-most president and athletics director in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC).

In every year of our tenure, we’ve finished in the top three spots of the MVC All Sports Trophy. Last year, we finished second out of 12 schools. We’ve made the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, hosted and won an NCAA baseball regional, been nationally ranked in men’s soccer the last five years, made the Sweet 16 in women’s basketball and won dozens of conference championships. Student athletes have gone on to successful professional careers in basketball, baseball, football and soccer.

Our student athletes are also successful in the classroom. The average GPA of our student athletes has been above 3.0 for 22 semesters in a row, posting the highest GPA ever last semester at 3.25. Our APR (academic progress rate) last year was 987 out of 1,000. This is the highest score in our history.

The MVC selects two student athletes a year who are recognized for academic success. Last year, both selected students, Cam Cratic and Abby Caviani, were from Missouri State. Our student athletes also volunteer hundreds of hours a semester in the community.

During my tenure, the men’s basketball team has not won our conference nor been selected to play in the NCAA tournament. However, in Coach Ford’s first five years, the team has been competitive, finishing second once, third twice and sixth twice. This year, the team has struggled to maintain a consistent line-up due to illness and injuries.

It’s been a disappointing year so far. The Board of Governors, our athletics administration and I are all committed to winning – on the court and in the classroom. I continue to believe that, if healthy, the men’s basketball team is as good as any other in the league. However, the time to evaluate their performance is after the season has ended.

Finances and cost

With an annual athletic budget of $30 million, Missouri State does not have unlimited funds to invest in athletics. The universities of Arkansas and Missouri spend five times that, yet we are competitive on the field and on the court when we play them. Those at the top of Division I like Texas and Texas A&M spend almost 10 times more than we do.

Given our financial constraints, we’ve been intentionally slow to buy out the contracts of struggling coaches. Instead, we give them additional opportunities to turn programs around while we invest that money in our teams.

We work to ensure our athletic events are affordable for our students and fans. Our ticket prices are consistently lower than our SEC competitors. We recently reduced seat assessments for basketball, students attend at no charge and children are admitted free on weekends to basketball games. It costs less to see our basketball teams play than it does to go to a movie.

Athletics will continue to be important

Athletics will continue to be important to the university’s profile no matter who is selected as our 12th president. Success creates affinity within the community and excitement among our students and alumni.

The college sports landscape is changing. We’re working hard to adapt and thrive, within our financial constraints. We do this with the help of our fans and donors.

Athletics is important to our board, to Kyle and to me. There will be some failures and losses along the way. But we’re always working to manage the problems and drive ahead for our athletes and our fans.

In a constantly changing environment, none of us have batted 1,000%, but we’re all giving it our best.

Thanks for all you do for Missouri State. And, Go Bears!

Clif