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STAFF
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Whit Babcock enters his fourth year as Virginia Tech’s director of
athletics after being formally announced as Tech’s AD on Jan. 24, 2014. The
Harrisonburg, Virginia native returned to the Commonwealth following stints at
Cincinnati, Missouri, West Virginia, Auburn and James Madison.
With Babcock overseeing the Hokies’ athletics programs, Tech continued
building momentum in 2016-17, claiming The Commonwealth Clash that
rewards head-to-head wins against the University of Virginia for the first time.
The Hokies also tied North Carolina for the most ACC team championships
with four this past academic year. Tech claimed titles in wrestling, as well
as women’s track and field (outdoor) and men’s track and field (indoor and
outdoor) adding more ACC trophies to the growing collection under 13-time
ACC Track and field Coach of the Year Dave Cianelli.
The football squad extended the longest active bowl streak in the nation to
24 straight seasons as first-year head coach Justin Fuente earned consensus
ACC Coach of the Year honors. The men’s and women’s basketball programs
both reached the 20-win plateau in the same season for the first time since
1994-95. Under the director of Buzz Williams, the men’s basketball program
made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, while Kenny Brooks’
women’s squad earned an NIT berth during his debut campaign in Blacksburg.
Tech’s men’s soccer squad advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA
Tournament under coach Mike Brizendine and the wrestling program registered
its fifth straight top-10 national finish at the NCAA Championships under Tony
Robie.
Under Babcock’s watch, the Hokies also are excelling academically. Tech
had three student-athletes named ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year in their
respective sports. At the conclusion of the 2017 spring semester, 285
student-athletes – more than half of those on team rosters – held a cumulative
grade-point average of 3.0 or better. The cumulative grade-point average of
Virginia Tech’s student-athletes overall was 3.03 at the end of the 2017 spring
semester with an all-time high of 16 teams maintaining a 3.0 cumulative GPA
or better.
Along with former Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer, Babcock and
the Hokie Club helped launch The Drive for 25 campaign with an objective
of increasing membership in the organization to 25,000 members. Formally
known as the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund, the Hokie Club was founded in
1949 with the expressed purpose of funding all scholarships for Virginia Tech
student-athletes.
Hokie Nation has enthusiastically answered the call. As of June 2017, the
organization boasted over 13,000 members and donors generously gave
over $33 million to the Hokie Club, both all-time records for Virginia Tech.
Of that record $33 million total, approximately $16.2 million was designated
Continued on page 190
WHIT BABCOCK
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
@WhitBabcock
HOKIES IN THE TOP 25
2016-17
TEAM
RANK
Wrestling
5
Men’s Indoor Track & Field
7
Men’s Soccer
8
Women’s Lacrosse
12
Women’s Basketball
15 (AP),
16 (Coaches)
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field 11
Football
16 (AP & Coaches)
Women’s Soccer
16
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field 18
Baseball
19
Men’s Basketball
21 (AP & Coaches)
Women’s Swimming & Diving 23
Men’s Swimming & Diving
25
Denotes highest rank achieved during season