Kenpom released his annual program ratings update, and AU checks in at #240 out of 357. These ratings use data from 1997 to the present to rank men’s college basketball programs. His stated aim is to show how a coaching candidate or offered prospect might think about each program in relation to others. On the plus side, American ranks fourth in the Patriot League, behind only Bucknell, Boston University, and Colgate. Not so plus: AU was third last year, and 2021-2022 rates as the Eagles’ worst season since 1997. So, trending in the wrong direction. A strong 2022-23 can reverse this, and hopefully also render American’s attractiveness to coaching candidates irrelevant.
Alan and Amy Meltzer, the former an AU alum and Board of Trustees member, made a $10 million gift to the athletic department to support the Center for Athletic Performance. Originally announced in 2020, the CAP is the largest investment the university has made in its athletic programs in decades. The facility purports to provide state-of-the-art practice and training facilities for AU’s varsity teams. It will also contain a broadcast and media production facility and a campus activity space. It will be either 46,000 square feet or 58,000 square feet, depending on where you look. Construction is apparently going to be underway after this next school year.
Eight recent SOC grads were part of the team that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service awarded to the Washington Post for its coverage of the January 6th riots.
American University swimmer Aldrich Elvambuena has been selected as the Patriot League representative on the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Over the course of this two-year appointment, Elvambuena will represent the interests of all student-athletes across the conference.
Fellow Eagle swimmer Mimi Watts has been competing at the Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, CA. After finishing 22nd out of 70 swimmers in the prelim heats of the 100m Fly, she qualified for the finals.
