Craig Doty

35 minute drive from home to the Gulf for some family beach time ❤️

@glennrevell Amen! Perfectly stated.

Athletics 🤝 Academics At the best institutions they complement each other, not compete with each other.

Why invest in college sports? College presidents, board members, athletic directors, admissions offices, and fundraising teams know that successful athletics enrolls students, fills beds, and builds new buildings. Florida Gulf Coast’s admissions applications increased over 27% after their Sweet 16 run. Visits on the FGCU admissions page jumped from 2,280 to 42,793. Butler’s applications nearly tripled after two Final Fours while the university was able to build, expand, and upgrade $255M in campus facilities including a business school and a new arts center. George Mason’s admissions office inquiries went up 350% after their Final Four run in 2006 including a 54% increase in out-of-state applications. In the 1980’s, John Chaney’s men’s basketball program changed the landscape of Temple University as a whole helping increase freshmen enrollment by 18.1% and transfer enrollment by 6.1%. Nick Saban’s football program helped propel the University of Alabama. Between 2007 and 2022, enrollment at Alabama increased by 51%, from 25,580 to 38,645 students. In that same time, the college more than tripled its endowment, surpassing a record $1 billion in 2022. It also has nearly doubled its physical footprint, adding an engineering quad and state-of-the-art dorms and recreational facilities.

@Begs_3 You will do great and make a huge impact on others at whatever you do. I am glad coaching was a part of your journey and family legacy. Thanks for giving back to the game and to the youth of South Dakota. Good luck my friend in your next chapter!

@joshdeweerd I appreciate you, Josh. I hope you’re doing well. Good to hear from you! God bless.

@CoachDoty is an amazing leader!!!!

First day of soccer! Calvin played at 8:30 AM. Sienna played at 9:30 AM. Amery played at 11:00 AM. Saturday mornings this spring are going to be busy! Love seeing the kids learn, compete, and grow.

“I was always angry, and I had a huge hole in my heart. Nothing made me happy. Then I got married to a God-fearing woman, and at home she would read the Bible every morning. After a while she said, "Do you want me to read aloud to you?" So I sat down, and she started reading the Bible aloud to me, every morning. Eventually I said, "Well, let me read it," and so I started to read it aloud to her. And then it was like the Lord said to me, ‘Chuck, it's time to come home. It's been long enough.’ And now my heart is filled up again.”

Well stated, David! I appreciate your feedback. I think the committee does a great job working with what they are suppose to work with. Keith Gill and his team were very transparent too which builds trust in the process. Many just think the process should be tweaked. This includes incentivizing P5 and MM matchups during the regular season and ensuring the best MM’s can still make the field based on their 31+ game body of work even if they get upset in their respective conference tournament.

@CoachDoty I've been pleasantly surprised WAB is in now since that seems to help mids far more than the NET, etc... I hope the committee reconsiders its stance that predictives (Kenpom) determine seeding because that ignores the actual results which gets a team in the NCAAs to begin with.

The driver of interest in March Madness are the mid-major programs like High Point, Miami (OH), St. Louis, Prairie View A&M, VCU, McNeese, Siena, South Florida, and others. These teams make the tournament special.. they maximize their talent, they play together, have elite chemistry, and they show that toughness and execution can level the playing field against programs with 5–15x the resources, recruiting budgets, and NIL/revenue share money. The mid-majors, their stories and their upsets drive viewership and revenue. They are the reason for the early round interest in the tournament. Why is High Point Coach Flynn Clayman and many others frustrated? It is because the system and selection process treats elite mid-majors like second-class citizens. It should be noted that no one wants to flood the field with potential Cinderellas and dilute the tournament. However, there’s a clear case for a handful more deserving mid-majors earning at-large spots each year. As it stands today, the metrics and criteria create almost no realistic path for 99% of non-power programs unless they win their conference tournament outright. There are mid-major leagues that are strong enough on a given year that their second-best team (or their best team who gets upset in their conference tournament) would win games if they were in the field. How do we get them in the NCAA tournament in the future?

I think they need each other. Think FCS football which doesn’t have fraction of the interest as the FBS bracket. The tournament including MM and P5 is a match made in heaven for the NCAA basketball tournament but there is a little too much leverage for the P5’s in the selection process. I think it’s close as it stands but there needs to be a more viable pathway to ensure the highest level of MM’s are in the field, even if they don’t win their conference tournament.

@CoachDoty Which is why if these mid majors broke from the p5 and created their own system and tournament they would do just fine

With our season coming to a close in the Southland Conference Tournament, I wanted to share a message of appreciation to our students, fans, alumni, family and friends for supporting us this season. We are grateful for you all! Our team fought hard, stayed together, and found some success amid the adversity of a college basketball season. Despite seven scholarship players missing a combined 101 games due to injury, our team never gave in. We won 4 of our final 6 regular-season games to secure a tournament berth and extend our season. As we continue to build something special here at Houston Christian University, we highlight some positives from our season: ✅ Picked 12th in Jeff Goodman’s Southland job rankings and finished tied for 7th. ✅ HCU is one of only 5 Southland teams with back-to-back bids to the SLC Tournament in 2025 & 2026 ✅ Highest home attendance in 7 years ✅ Back-to-back winning seasons at home (first time since 2015-17) ✅ Team GPA of 3.17 ✅ $150k in facility upgrades benefiting both women’s and men’s sports at HCU Our goal is not only to continue exceeding projections, but also to raise expectations as we keep moving the needle. We will continue to work! The best is yet to come. I close with a verse for everyone to reflect on as you go about your days and work with the talents you were blessed with. Continue to pour maximum energy into every task knowing the ultimate reward comes from God. “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” -2 Chronicles 15:7

Michael… I’m not sure we have not had the chance to meet yet, but your boss reached out to me back in October, and I personally extended an invitation for him and his entire staff, including you, to stop by HCU for any of our practices or games. I would love the opportunity to host you on campus so we can chat about how NIL and revenue sharing works at the college level. Schools in the Southland Conference vary widely in what they can allocate, ranging from $0 to well over a million annually for their rosters, depending on resources and priorities. You are right that McNeese has done an excellent job loading up with high caliber Houston area talent. Those five players you mentioned came in from strong programs (Oklahoma, Providence/Seton Hall, LSU/K State/SMU, Tulsa, and UTSA), and each player has quality representation that commands significant market value. In the Houston market, none of the five NCAA D1 programs (PV, HCU, TSU, Rice, UH) can compete financially with McNeese unless their mascot is a Cougar. That said, if you had joined us at an HCU practice I would have introduced you to Houston area standout Demari Williams. He starred at Fulshear HS, spent time at Arizona State and Oral Roberts, and has really blossomed here at HCU, jumping from 2.2 PPG at ORU to 9.7 PPG this season (.469 FG%, .309 3PT%, .794 FT%) with 3.2 RPG, while being our best on-ball defender. Demari is a prime example of the growth and opportunity that HCU can provide. Additionally, we have had several other Houston area players in our program recently, including one from your school. You are surely familiar with this. Despite the challenges of the NIL era and having one of the toughest jobs in college basketball, we have positioned ourselves as one of only five Southland Conference programs to earn bids to the conference tournament in both the 2025 and 2026 seasons. We are proud of that progress, and we are far from finished. Our focus remains on recruiting talented, attainable transfers, both locally and beyond, who want real competition in a rising Southland Conference and are physically ready to handle the league’s demanding style. You have an open invitation to hang out with us in our men’s basketball offices at HCU. We would love to share more about our vision, strengths, and challenges as well as hear your thoughts on the Houston area landscape. Feel free to swing by campus anytime in the coming weeks. Send me a DM and we will get things squared away. Congratulations on another outstanding high school season. HC HS has been truly dominant. Impressive work! Looking forward to connecting. God bless!

Mcneese St just won the Southland with 5 Houston area kids in their top 7. While the houston area team in their conference won't recruit the area

GAME DAY! Houston Christian vs. New Orleans at 5:00 PM CST on ESPN+ @SouthlandSports runs the best conference tournament in mid-major hoops.

Do you think this boy loves his momma? ❤️

This week, my boss and longtime Houston Christian University Athletic Director Steve Moniaci officially handed the department off to his right-hand man, Stan Williamson. As Steve slides over to an executive position with the President, I reflect on the last two years we spent together. Steve hired me at HCU in March of 2024 and brought our family down to Texas. For this, I will forever be grateful. Even more so, working with him was an honor. Steve is a man of great character, fiercely intelligent, and he has a great sense of humor. He is naturally empathetic and was able to successfully draw upon his 45+ years as an athletic administrator to guide coaches and lead our department effectively. While I’ll miss working with Steve as my direct supervisor, his office actually moves across campus and will be closer to mine. We will continue to work on many projects together, including fundraising, facility enhancements, and beyond. Our new athletic director, Stan Williamson, has already hit the ground running. Prior to his nearly nine years at HCU, Stan was the Athletic Director at Nicholls State, Campbell, and West Alabama. Like Steve, he is a man of great faith and proclaims it daily as a prayer leader with a vast knowledge of scripture. He is the perfect leader and a natural fit to succeed Steve as we continue to move the department forward into this new era of college athletics.

Big win last night. Sharp was rocking. Postseason bid. Family in the office after the game is the best! #DawgsUp

HUSKIES PUNCH THEIR TICKET 🐶 In what turned into a play-in game, HCU uses the energy of a raucous crowd to roll past Lamar and punch its ticket to the conference tournament!

Final from Houston, TX With the win, HCU qualifies for The Southland Conference Tournament #DawgsUp

@StonehillFB @nmdp_org Incredible!

Our OC Dan Hebert stepped up and donated his bone marrow to help save the life of his match. Thank you to Dan and @nmdp_org for all you do! #GoHill #DIG

@Schilling_Cody @elynnro The most rewarding stage of your life, starting now! Congrats Coach

Carter Cody Schilling Erica and Carter are both doing amazing! God is so good! The best title I’ve ever been given, DAD! Thank you Jesus! 🙌🏼🙏🏼