Capping a High Flying Career

Coach Jim Morris

Baseball coach Jim Morris retired after 25 winning seasons at the U.

Two national titles, 44 consecutive NCAA tournaments, 13 College World Series appearances, and numerous players drafted into the Major Leagues: Jim Morris’s career at the University of Miami is over the top. As the legendary Miami Hurricanes Baseball coach steps down, here’s a look at some of his major ’Canes accomplishments.

1993

New skipper at the helm: Morris—who led the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to 12 straight winning seasons and four straight ACC titles—is named Miami’s eighth baseball coach.

1994

Off to a stellar start: Leading Miami to a 49-14 record and a College World Series berth, Morris is named coach of the year by Baseball America.

1999

Putting Miami back on top: Morris wins his first College World Series and Miami’s third, guiding the Hurricanes toward the title with a championship game victory over Florida State. He’s named national coach of the year by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

2001

’Canes reign again:
The Hurricanes win the National Championship with a record-tying victory over Stanford in the College World Series finale. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the American Baseball Coaches Association name Morris national coach of the year.

2008

Top skipper: As the Hurricanes capture the Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division Regular Season and Tournament championships, reaching the College World Series, Morris is named ACC Coach of the Year.

An eye for talent: Three Miami Hurricanes are selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft; eight UM players are ultimately drafted.

2014

Conference champs:
Morris guides Miami to the 2014 ACC Regular Season Championship—winning a record-setting 24 conference games and tying the ACC’s all-time single-season win total.

2016

A grand slam milestone: Morris becomes just the sixth coach in the history of NCAA Division I Baseball to reach 1,500 career wins as the Hurricanes claim a victory over Louisville.

1K run: The Hurricanes defeat Clemson, propelling Morris to his 1,000th victory with the ’Canes.

Helping Women Student-Athletes Excel

To foster outstanding women student-athletes on the field and in life, Miami Athletics has launched the Building Women Champions campaign with an annual fundraising goal of $1 million.

Launched at the fourth annual Celebration of Women’s Athletics event in February, the initiative seeks to help women athletes play, earn, give back, and contribute to our scoreboards and our communities through mentoring programs, leadership development, and career coaching.
“At the University of Miami, we are committed to creating an environment that encourages our female student-athletes to raise the bar and be empowered as the leaders of tomorrow,” says Jennifer Strawley, deputy director of athletics, chief operating officer, and senior woman administrator.

Show the U’s female student-athletes that you’re on their team. Please visit buildingwomenchampions.com or call the Hurricane Club at 305-284-6699 to learn more.

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The Inside Story

Carol Soffer Football Indoor Practice Facility

Dominating defenses and high-powered offenses from opposing squads give college football teams enough to worry about week in and week out without the added concern of thunderstorms, lightning, and intense heat disrupting practice sessions.

That’s why most of the Elite Power Five schools, including the University of Miami, either have or are in the process of building an indoor practice venue. In fact, such sites are now the norm in college football, says Jesse Marks, A.B. ’05, M.S.Ed. ’08, senior associate athletic director for development.

Although UM’s planned 81,800-square-foot Carol Soffer Football Indoor Practice Facility won’t open until the fall of 2018, its interior blueprint is already creating a buzz. It includes a 20,000-square-foot football operations center with coaches’ offices, conference and meeting rooms, a state-of-the-art video center, and a recruiting suite; tributes to past Hurricane greats; and elaborate displays of UM’s storied football history.

“We’ve started with the external construction of the building,” Marks says. “But we still have needs to make this facility the best in the country. To make it the best we need to have proper branding, we need to have the most up-to-date technology and equipment, and we need to demonstrate what the U’s tradition is all about.”

As of deadline, over $32.1 million had been raised toward the $34 million overall goal for the facility. A Miami Athletics crowdfunding campaign (Give2IPF.com) aimed at outfitting the facility’s interior has raised over $160,000 since its September launch.

It was only a year ago that Miami Athletics announced the largest gift in its history that got the project off the ground. South Florida real estate developer and philanthropist Jeffrey Soffer and his siblings gave a lead gift of $14 million in honor of their mother, Carol, a passionate supporter of UM Athletics for more than 20 years.

Alumni, fans, and supporters were quick to open their wallets. Former UM players contributed significantly, donating nearly $2 million. Leading the way with a $1 million commitment were Hurricanes head football coach Mark Richt, B.B.A. ’82, and his wife, Katharyn.

Among the other Hurricane gridiron notables to support the project: Nose tackle Vince Wilfork, ’06, who was selected by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft and spent 13 seasons in the league; Bryant McKinnie, ’01, a longtime NFL offensive lineman who was an Outland Trophy winner at UM and a key player on the U’s 2001 national championship team; Alonzo Highsmith, B.B.A. ’87, a former NFL fullback who, as a college freshman, helped the ’Canes win the 1983 national championship; Ted Hendricks, ’72, a former NFL linebacker who played on four Super Bowl-winning teams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990; and many others.

“Former players wanted to get behind this resurgence of support in our program,” says Marks. “This speaks to the importance of the U family and making sure our championship legacy continues.”

Ring of Honor ’17

The latest football legends to join the Hurricanes’ Ring of Honor were recognized in October for outstanding careers. All five inductees—Michael Irvin, B.B.A. ’88 (Dallas Cowboys); Ray Lewis, ’95 (Baltimore Ravens); Ed Reed, B.L.A. ’02 (Ravens, Houston Texans, New York Jets); Warren Sapp, ’94 (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders); and (posthumously) Sean Taylor, ’04 (Washington Redskins)—already belong to the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame; Irvin and Sapp are also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This class marks a total of 23 inductees since the Ring of Honor was established 20 years ago.

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UM baseball ranked No. 1 for first time since 2008, ascending to the top of the college baseball polls in the April polls after winning nine straight games and 20 of its last 22 contests.

After capturing the 2016 ACC Regular Season Championship vs. Florida State, the top-seeded Hurricanes opened the postseason on May 25 in Durham, North Carolina, heading Pool A at the 2016 ACC Baseball Championship.

Catch more Hurricanes baseball at Hurricanesports.com.

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Courtesy UM Sports Media Relations Office

The Ron Fraser Statue Dedication and Unveiling took place on Friday, April 24, outside of Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, on the DiMare Family Champions Plaza.

Designed and sculpted by Zenos Frudakis, the seven-foot-tall bronze statue was majorly funded by friends and fans of the late Coach Fraser, who led the Hurricanes for 30 years from 1963-92. While never posting a losing season, Fraser’s teams won 1,271 games and captured the 1982 and 1985 national titles.

Fraser’s mastery of promoting and marketing the game helped develop the sport into a major player in college athletics.

From ESPN covering games in Miami to his “Dinner on the Diamond,” from creating the batgirls with “The Sugarcanes” to developing a mascot, The Miami Maniac, Fraser—more commonly known as “The Wizard of College Baseball”—made Mark Light Stadium the premier family entertainment spot in South Florida.

“The dedication of a statue in honor of Ron Fraser is a testimony to a lifetime spent enriching the lives of all who knew him, not only in the University of Miami and college baseball communities, but in the entire South Florida community,” Miami Athletics Director Blake James said. “Ron touched the lives of thousands through his passion for baseball and for people. It is fitting that his immeasurable love for this community will forever be present at the entrance of our ballpark.”

More than a hundred of Fraser’s ballplayers went on to professional baseball and many more started successful careers. Fraser was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in its introductory Class of 2006.

“Coach Fraser was not only the most influential person in college baseball history, but also the most influential in my own professional career,” head baseball coach Jim Morris said. “Having a statue in front of our park, honoring all that he did both on the field and off, is going to be something special for his family, our program and for our fans.”

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Fans can join expeditions, attend games this summer

Hurricanes near and far are invited to join the University of Miami men’s basketball team for its first foreign outing in 16 years—a summer tour of Spain.

The ten-day trip, which lands in Madrid on August 13, is an educational excursion that will also include sightseeing and community service, plus a series of games.

“With just four veterans returning from this year’s team and eight new players joining our roster, we felt it was very important to give them some playing experience together,” explained Coach Jim Larrañaga of his 2014-15 squad. “The trip to Spain is an ideal opportunity for our players to grow physically, mentally, and educationally together as a team.”

Miami will play four matchups against professional club teams in Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona.

Coach Jim Larrañaga and his team prepare to court fans in a new country during the ten-day tour.

The entire team, including incoming freshmen and transfers, will have ten days of practice leading up to their overseas voyage. NCAA rules permit schools to take one foreign tour every four years. Miami’s last tour was to Argentina and Uruguay in the summer of 1998.

Aside from competition, the team will explore cultural icons of each city, with three nights in Madrid, two in Valencia, and the final four nights in Barcelona. Highlights will include the chance to visit Madrid’s Prado Museum, the ancient walled city of Toledo, the picturesque beaches of El Cabanyal in Valencia, Barcelona’s Olympic sites, Gaudi’s architectural wonders, and the peaks of Montserrat. There will also be ample opportunities to taste Spain’s celebrated culinary offerings from land and sea.

“Spain is a tremendous country,” said Larrañaga. “I know our players and fans will enjoy a great trip.”

Complete travel packages with air begin as low as $5,020, and ground travel packages are available from $3,600. To join the official Miami Hurricanes travel party or to find out more about travel and accommodations, click here, or contact Becky Johnson at [email protected] or 425-776-3309.

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UM Dedicates Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence

The Theodore G. Schwartz and Todd G. Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence had its dedication in October 2013.

Renderings of the Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence were like Xs and Os on a chalkboard to Maurice Hagens when he first saw them in 2010 as a high school football recruit out of Riverview, Florida.

Today, those renderings are a gleaming new reality, and Hagens, now a senior fullback for the Miami Hurricanes, couldn’t be more ecstatic. “During my recruitment, the coaches would tell us about the Schwartz Center and show us drawings,” recalls Hagens. “Now, to finally see it come to fruition, it’s just amazing.”

Dedicated on October 4, 2013, the 34,000-square-foot Theodore G. Schwartz and Todd G. Schwartz Center, part of the Isadore Hecht Athletic Center, will serve the University of Miami’s more than 400 student-athletes with expanded training facilities and resources such as a new academic center with computers, study rooms, and a 140-seat auditorium.

A lead gift directed by father and son pair Theodore G. and Todd G. Schwartz from their family foundation made the $14.7 million center possible; so did the generosity of many other donors, including 400 who made gifts to a Schwartz Center brick campaign.

“It takes your breath away,” lead donor Todd G. Schwartz says of the Paul J. DiMare Gallery of Champions. “It’s really a grand entrance to a grand building.” Photo by Jenny Abreu

Father Theodore’s passion for the U dates back to 1964, when by chance he came across a UM football game on a Chicago-area TV station. “I grew up in a sea of Notre Dame fans. One day, for some reason, they televised a University of Miami game, and I was captivated at 10 years old by the old Orange Bowl, and seeing the palm trees by the scoreboard,” he says. “I’ve been a Hurricanes fan ever since.” Two decades later he watched in person as the Hurricanes won the first of five national football championships. Though he never attended the U, he considers it a “very unique place” that embodies the values his family holds dear.

In 1999 he and his wife, UM trustee M. Christine Schwartz, made a similarly transformational gift to build a new facility for UM’s nursing school.

Son Todd thinks the new athletic facility brings UM toe-to-toe with larger, state schools. “We thought it was imperative that for Miami to compete going forward in the future, it would need a facility that was representative of the University of Miami,” Todd says.

Designed by AECOM and built by Moss Construction, the Schwartz Center sits on the north side of the Hecht Athletic Center, a facility that also ushered in a new era for the ’Canes. Blake James, director of athletics, considers the Schwartz Center “an investment in our student-athletes that will pay dividends for years to come.”

It has already helped recruiting efforts, says men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga. Prospects who see the facility “realize that they’ll be in a very healthy and safe environment to do their studies,” he says.

Football offensive line coach Art Kehoe, B.B.A. ’83, calls the Schwartz Center “the Taj Mahal” of college athletic facilities. “That it helps our recruiting is the understatement of the century,” says Kehoe, a 2002 inductee in the UM Athletic Hall of Fame. “It’s just spectacular.”

—Robert C. Jones Jr.

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Miami coach revered game, revived fan base

Celebrating the first of his two national title wins at UM.

Baseball legend Ron Fraser, who died on January 20 at 79 years old, will be remembered as much for his marketing brilliance as his winning teams.

When Fraser was hired as coach in 1962, America’s pastime was something of an afterthought at the University of Miami. But he quickly set his sights on creating a national power and getting fans excited about UM baseball.

He started the Dinner on the Diamond event, formed the first-ever group of batgirls (the Sugarcanes), and created a mascot—the Miami Maniac. He also convinced ESPN to broadcast college baseball.

These and other smooth moves turned the Hurricanes into one of college baseball’s most recognized teams. In his 30 years at the U, Fraser never suffered a losing season. He won two College World Series titles and saw more than 140 players go on to play professional ball.

“He played such a significant role in the history of college baseball and this program,” says UM baseball coach Jim Morris, Fraser’s successor and fellow two-time national title winner. “We will always be a tribute to him.”

Known as the Wizard of College Baseball, Fraser led the Hurricanes to 20 consecutive NCAA regional berths, 12 College World Series appearances, and national titles in 1982 and 1985. With 1,271 wins, he retired as NCAA Division I Baseball’s winningest active coach.

Born in Nutley, New Jersey, Ronald George Fraser attended Florida State University. He was letterwinner for the Seminoles from 1954 to 1956. His international coaching accolades include European championships in 1960, 1962, and 1973 with the Dutch National Team, silver medals at the 1971 and 1987 Pan American Games with the U.S. National Team, and heading the 1992 U.S. Olympic baseball team.

In honor of the man Collegiate Baseball named the 1980s Coach of the Decade, the UM baseball players are wearing a commemorative patch on their uniforms this season, and National Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda was among the notable speakers at a celebration of Fraser’s life attended by about 1,000 people at UM’s Knight Sports Complex on February 23.

Former Hurricane Rob Cooper, A.B. ’94, M.S.Ed. ’96, Wright State University’s head baseball coach, helped launch the 2013 Ron Fraser Classic at the USA Baseball National Training Complex to raise money for the Ron Fraser Wizard Fund. “Fraser was college baseball,” says Cooper. “This is just a small way for us to celebrate Coach Fraser’s impact on collegiate and USA Baseball—two things he loved a great deal.”

Fraser is survived by his wife, Karen; three daughters; and five grandchildren.

The Ron Fraser Wizard Fund aims to erect a bronze statue of the coach at UM. For more information contact Rick Remmert, UM’s director of alumni programs, at 305-284-9517 or [email protected], or visit http://gocan.es/RonFraserWizardFund.

Ron Fraser will be remembered as the Wizard of College Baseball.

He played such a significant role in the history of college baseball and this program.

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