Message from Director of Athletics Shane Lyons

A MESSAGE FROM DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

SHANE LYONS

MAJOR HARRIS, SHANE LYONS AND DARRYL TALLEY

College athletics certainly faces challenging times as we continue to navigate conference realignment, name image and likeness (NIL) and the transformation of the NCAA and its future as the governing body.

With everything that’s going on in college athletics, I must tell you how proud I am of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. They train, practice,

Track and cross country star Ceili McCabe is well on her way to becoming one of the best runners in the nation, and the highlight of the year is we added another Hall of Famer. Join me in congratulating men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins on his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. What a great and deserving honor for Coach Huggins.

Our department finished the athletic season with 20 All-Americans and 72 AllConference performers. Five teams made the NCAA tournament and another 15 individuals qualified for NCAA championships.

In the classroom, we won 41 individual academic honors, produced 321 Academic All-Conference selections and had the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR) in our history. And congrats to football’s Sean Mahone who was a National Football Foundation National Scholar Athlete, and rifle’s Verena Zaisberger and men’s soccer’s Kevin Morris were First-Team Academic All-Americans.

All of our accomplishments are detailed in the pages to come but rest assured that our success in competition and in the classroom is a direct reflection of your support for Mountaineer athletics. I again thank you for everything you have done for our department, and none of our success stories would be possible without your contributions to the Mountaineer Athletic Club. I can assure you that your participation with the MAC is making a difference in the lives of our more than 450 Mountaineer student-athletes.

In the coming year, I will continue my work on the NCAA Transformation Committee, as we continue to reshape the future of college athletics. I will keep you updated on key developments as they happen along the way. Stay safe and be well.

Sincerely,

Shane Lyons Director of Athletics/Associate Vice President West Virginia University

compete and work at a high level and take great pride in wearing the West Virginia wordmark or Flying WV logo. They know how important it is to represent the state’s flagship University, and I thank them for their commitment.

In the past year, we opened our new Athletics Performance Center. The renovation of the old Natatorium was made possible with a gift from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Trust and has opened a whole new world for our Olympic Sports teams. Now, all 18 varsity teams have first-class weight rooms, training rooms and locker room facilities. This building is a game changer for our department. I can’t even begin to tell you how far behind we were in facilities for our Olympic Sports, but the new APC has closed the gap.

We also have continued to invest in the well-being of our student-athletes. In 2022, we increased our financial commitment to the student-athlete experience through enhanced nutrition, conditioning, academics and mental health. By way of the Alston decision, we also have invested monetary assistance to our student-athletes when certain academic criteria are met.

In this annual report, make sure you check out the men’s soccer team and its exciting run to the final eight. Read about volleyball’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and cross country’s impressive third-place finish in the Big 12 and 21st-place finish at the NCAA Championships.