Nicholls AD pleased with state of Colonel athletics

With the academic year about to come to a close, Nicholls State Athletic Director Rob Bernardi is “extremely pleased” with the progress his department made in the 2009-10 school year.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with what we’ve done,” Bernardi said. “Competitively, we’ve done well, and academically, we’ve made dramatic changes. It’s been a wonderful year.”

Improving the status of the program’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) was a major point of emphasis within each of the programs in this academic year.

The Colonels have long struggled in some sports to stay above the NCAA-mandated 925 score.

Men and women’s track, baseball, football, men’s golf and women’s basketball have all previously received penalties, according to a report issued by the NCAA on May 1, 2009.

But Bernardi said Nicholls’ programs “across the board” have improved and he especially touted baseball and women’s basketball for their classroom successes.

“We are in a world where everything is measured in the win-loss record,” he said. “But all around, in terms of the entire management of the programs, I couldn’t be more pleased … We’ve come a long way in a short period of time.”

The Colonel baseball program was one of six baseball programs that could face sanctions following this season if improvements weren’t made, according to a report in the USA Today this past May.

“When Coach [Chip] Durham got here, their four-year APR was about 835,” Bernardi said. “But our latest projections show that come the fall, they could be as high as 940, which is above the 925 score that is the benchmark to free them from any kind of penalties … That’s taken a tremendous amount of discipline and a tremendous amount of sacrifice.”

Durham added to the athletic director’s thoughts and said his staff has emphasized finding players who will perform academically when they get to Thibodaux.

“That’s a must,” he said. “Our players have to be able to perform in the classroom and take their education seriously.”

Women’s basketball had a multiyear APR score of 847 in the May 2009 NCAA report, but also have bettered themselves.

“They are also looking to be above the 925 line come the fall,” he said. “They’ve improved their team GPA from what was a 2.4 to what’s now a 2.9. They’ve done a commendable job.”

With the academic situation making positive progress, Bernardi said renovating the university’s athletic facilities is a major point of emphasis in the coming months.

“We have to improve our facilities,” he said. “That’s ongoing. We are making improvements. It’s just not necessarily at the pace that we’d like.”

Budget cuts thrust upon the university have haulted or slowed the progress of some of the projects the school is balancing.

Bernardi said the team’s new soccer complex is going to be finished in the coming months and baseball and softball projects will also be started in 2010.

The soccer complex was originally scheduled to be completed this summer, but that completion date has been moved to late summer or early fall.

“This is an ongoing process,” he said. “We’re doing what we can with the resources we’re given.

With renovations scheduled for new playing and practice fields, he said he is pleased with the work the teams are doing on their current fields.

The Nicholls athletic director had nothing but praise to yield to the team’s new football coach Charlie Stubbs after seeing the coach in action in spring drills.

“I’m proud of the tremendous amount of progress they’ve made in a short period of time,” Bernardi said. “In really its been in all phases of the program – in academics, certainly in recruiting and just the overall attitude of the program. He’s already put an imprint on that program and we’re very excited to see where this thing will go.”

Bernardi also touted the progress of the Colonels’ softball, baseball and tennis teams and said their futures is also bright.

“We’re excited about the spring sports because they’ve all done pretty well,” he said. “Baseball has won more than 20 games, which is modest improvement, but it marks the first time since 2005 that they’ve won that much. They’ve definitely increased their competitiveness. And softball is the same way. They are very competitive and have a great chance to win the conference tournament. And men and women’s tennis had great years. Those are all things we’re very proud of.”

All these things Bernardi hopes will improve Nicholls athletics’ standing in the community – something he said was a major focus now and into the future.

“Whether it’s buying season tickets and just coming to the games, or getting involved with our programs, community involvement is something we are trying to make better,” he said. “But given what we have, we do a good job. We’re the smallest school in the conference in enrollment, but we compete with everyone.”

The Colonels struggled to stay above the NCAA’s required 925 benchmark in some sports. But Colonels’ Athletic Director Rob Bernardi said a few sports, most notably women’s basketball, baseball and football are getting near the mark. * File photo / Tri-Parish Times