Release Your Inner Champion

The April edition of the NCAA’s Champion Magazine was released earlier this week, and that means thousands will spend this weekend devouring stories about intercollegiate athletics.

In case you aren’t aware, the NCAA stopped printing the NCAA News in January and has instead focused its energy on producing daily content on NCAA Online and the Double-A Zone. Additionally, the publishing staff elected to enter the world of magazines and put out the first Champion at the NCAA Convention.

For those who don’t wish to subscribe to the magazine, a corresponding Web site has been created to host the features, news stories and other content in each magazine. The Champion Web site also has some exceptional multimedia features that can’t be published on paper, so even if you get a hard copy of the magazine, the Web site is still a necessary stop.

There are a number of unique and exciting pieces in this issue of Champion, and I wanted to point out just a few in this post:

• Samantha Findlay’s extra-innings home run, Lorenzo Charles’ dunk in 1985 and Nick Ackerman’s miraculous run to the 2001 Division III wrestling title - these are just three of Champion’s top 10 most dramatic finishes in the last 25 years. More than 2,000 NCAA championships have been conducted in the past quarter-century (now we have 88 in 23 sports across three divisions) and Greg Johnson’s story highlights the top 10 storybook endings. Agree? Disagree? Let us know.

• If you watch the NCAA basketball tournaments, you’ve almost certainly seen our public-service announcements declaring “there are more than 380,000 NCAA student-athletes and almost all of them go pro in something other than sports.” If you want to know how the production of those spots goes down, Marta Lawrence gives a behind-the-scenes look at the PSAs from Los Angeles. As an example of the multimedia content you can find on the Champion Web site, check out this video about the production.

• With its academic reform efforts, the NCAA has made it clear that success in the classroom is a priority for student-athletes. Because of all the demands being a student-athlete places on one’s schedule (travel, practice, competition, etc.), universities are relying on academic advisors to help guide student-athletes toward what should be their ultimate goal - graduation. Michelle Hosick explores the world of academic advisement and some of the related costs in her Champion feature.

• Attention high school students, the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse no longer exists as you once knew it. Instead, the NCAA opened its Eligibility Center in downtown Indianapolis last fall and the new staff is responsible for certifying the academic and amateur eligibility of about 70,000 prospective Division I and II student-athletes each year. Jack Copeland features the Eligibility Center and pulls back the curtain on the eligibility process.

• Read exciting profiles on Peach Belt Commissioner Dave Brunk, Salve Regina Director of Athletics Del Malloy, Texas Director of Women’s Athletics Christine Plonsky, UNC-Wilmington Director of Athletics Kelly Mehrtens, Temple Director of Fencing Nikki Franke and many more!

• And of course, the cover subject is a wonderful student-athlete from Vanderbilt - basketball student-athlete Shan Foster. But calling Shan just a basketball player is a serious injustice; he’s also a talented musician and a remarkable individual who makes a point of giving back to others.

There’s a lot of other great stuff in April’s magazine, including spreads on new media, technology, championships and even book reviews. Check it out now!

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