Hello Huskies fans!
Well, winter is officially here (brrr!), and around here, that means it’s time to head to the Convocation Center for basketball, wrestling, gymnastics and more!
We’re only a few weeks into the non-conference season, and the men’s team has already put together a five-game winning streak, including a victory at DePaul, while the women’s team has had a three-game winning streak with a pair of victories in Puerto Rico over Thanksgiving weekend. Rashon Burno’s team has talent at every position and plays together, while Lisa Carlsen’s group once again picks up the pace and shoots threes.
If you haven’t yet purchased your basketball subscriptions for the 2023-24 season, there are many matches left on the program! Check Vacation with the Huskies package or MACtion Mini Packages. This week the Huskie Athletic Fund is offering a few cyber specials with discounts on single-game pass for courtside seating and/or Nelson Suite access. If the Victory Pub it’s more your style, for just $75, purchase a season ticket and receive a free drink ticket and enjoy dining deals at every game all year long! With a new bright court, the Kids’ Zone (reminder that all Pup Club members attend NIU Basketball games for free) and new contests and videos at every timeout, Huskie Basketball games have become a really fun and fun event. interactive for the whole family.
On the subject of upcoming family events at the Convocation Center, mark your calendars and purchase tickets – there’s another Cyber Week deal for this one – for Sara Evans’ holiday country concert which will be here on Wednesday December 13 as part of her Go tell it during the Mountain Tour. Until November 30th, get four tickets for just $100 (plus fees) for a savings of over $75. Use promo code CONVO at the link.
On Sunday, December 3, the Huskie football team will know its destination for the 2023 playoffs after winning its sixth game in the regular season finale at Kent State. I’m really happy for this team, who worked hard, stayed the course, stayed together and now has a chance to do something that hasn’t been done here at NIU since 2011 and that is win a game bowling. Reminder that you can get the Huskies’ Bowl Bound Equipment – the same jerseys the team received after the Kent State victory – here!
With all these deals from NIU Athletics, this looks like a holiday shopping edition of Frazier’s Corner??! I have one more and it’s a good one. Our friends at Whiskey Acres Distilling Company in DeKalb have produced and will release a special edition NIU Athletics/Whiskey Acres co-branded bourbon next week. The head coaches and I will be at Whiskey Acres in DeKalb from 4-6:30 p.m. for the release party, and the bottles – a small batch – will go on sale at that event. If you would like information on how to pre-order, click here.
With the end of the semester and the holiday season in sight, the Frazier family and the Huskie Athletics family have many reasons to be grateful.
All I had to do was look through the NIU Athletics Annual Report 2022-23, released earlier this month, to see all of the competitive and academic accomplishments of our teams and student-athletes last year, as well as the department-wide progress made in student-athlete well-being (mental health and nutrition), modernization of facilities and generation of income. The annual report paints a beautiful portrait of these achievements!
We are already building on these successes in 2023-2024 as the 2023 edition of our Huskies Invest fundraising campaign saw a record amount of $1,162,865 raised thanks to 455 donations. This represents a 10 percent increase in revenue and a 27 percent increase in the number of gifts. Giving Week has surpassed the million dollar mark for the third year in a row and none of this could have been achieved without your support. THANKS to ev
everyone who helped support Huskies student-athletes, programs and projects during Huskies Invest Giving Week 2023!
Of course, I am extremely grateful to our tremendous Huskies student-athletes who represent Northern Illinois University so admirably in competition, in the classroom and in the community every day. I love watching them compete and do what they love to do.
If I haven’t already said it, thank you for reading, coming to the games, purchasing tickets, following NIU Athletics on social media, and more. Just as we couldn’t do it without our student-athletes, we couldn’t do it without all of you.
Go Huskies!
Sean T. Frazier
Vice President and Director of Sports and Recreation
