BEARS NEWSLETTER

Dear Alumni,

I hope this letter finds you and your family healthy and that life is treating you well. 2001 will be a very exciting year for all those past and present who have been a player or fan of the Potsdam Bears.

We are currently in the final stretch of our regular season and battling for a high finish in a very competitive and balanced SUNYAC. Our team is striving to find consistency and improve to a point where we're playing our best basketball in time for the SUNYAC Tournament. We have an outstanding group of young men whom all of our former players would be proud of. The tradition of unparalleled work ethic, great teamwork, and the pride that goes with playing for Potsdam is very evident in this group.

We have great people in our program and our senior class is made up of some of the finest students and athletes ever to wear a Potsdam uniform. Two-time all-conference player Jason Lang joined our 1000 point club in early January and is preparing for law school next fall. Rex Ratliff is the "glue" that holds us together, provides great energy and spirit, and will be one of the very few athletes at the college to have played 4 years in two sports (lacrosse being the other). Fifth year senior Brian Resnick provides great leadership by example, will graduate cum laude, and will be working for the NBA in Manhattan next year. Aside from their successes on the court, the team provides great leadership on and off campus as well, including five students with GPAís of 3.0 or better, including 2 players with perfect GPA of 4.0.

I want to thank all of you who helped with your generous donations last year. Here are some of our future projects where your financial assistance could help make possible:

  • We are currently planning a Thanksgiving trip to Mexico for next season. It will truly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and Iím convinced it will have a direct link to our teamís success next year. I will be sending you information on the details as soon as they are set and hope some of our alumni might join us on the trip.
  • The renovation of our locker-room has begun and we hope to have it complete by year-end. New stalls and carpeting have already been installed. Padded team chairs, video equipment, and new team boards all in the plans for the future Bearsí Team Room. Like any coach we are looking for any advantage that will make the Potsdam program more attractive to prospects.
  • Finally, we also would like to purchase new cushioned team bench chairs for our home games. This will only lend to the first class atmosphere we hope Maxcy Hall presents.
I hope to see as many of you this summer, as we are attempting to make it the biggest basketball alumni celebration ever. Please mark your calendar for July 13-15 to attend the athletic alumni reunion.

Please join me in giving to SUNY Potsdam Menís Basketball to help our program grow. As you may have heard, this year SUNY Potsdam will be embarking on a capital campaign. $500,000 of this campaign has been designated to support SUNY Potsdam athletics. $250,000 will be used to enhance and upgrade Maxcy Hall to include naming the gym in honor of former Coach Welsh. The remaining $250,000 will be raised for a travel and recruitment endowment fund for all teams. This will not only help our basketball program, but the entire athletic program will grow and become more competitive. We hope you will consider making a gift over and above your annual gift to our team, to help us accomplish our campaign goals. You could even pledge a gift to athletics now and spread the payments over the next five years. And, for gifts or pledges of $500 or more to the Athletic Campaign, your name will be placed on a special plaque in Maxcy Hall, and you will be invited to play in our "Presidentís Cup" Donor Golf Tournament in Massena on Friday, July 13 during reunion weekend! Many other athletic alumni games will be taking place that weekend as well.

A current Basketball member will be calling you soon to ask you about a gift. If you would like to make a gift, you can do so directly via our online giving form https://www.safepage.com/potsdam. Feel free to call with any questions, @ 315-267-2308, or mitchewj@potsdam.edu. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Bill Mitchell Jim Zalacca
Coach Athletic Director