USF Athletics

Bull Speed Ahead Podcast: Episode 34

July 10, 2020

TAMPA, JULY 10, 2020 – USF Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly covers important USF Athletics topics surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and much more. Via his podcast, Kelly will keep fans updated every Friday on the latest information regarding athletics.

Kelly's special guests this week is Jay Stroman, USF Senior Vice President of Advancement and Alumni Affairs and CEO of the USF Foundation. Stroman came to USF in March after a very successful tenure at the University of Georgia where he helped coordinate and lead a capital campaign that exceeded its $1.2 billion goal more than a year before the target date. A former collegiate student-athlete at Mercer, who is also married to a former Mercer student-athlete, Stroman will work to build on recent USF fundraising achievements, which include receiving the university's largest ever gift of $25 million in 2014 and becoming one of only three public universities in the United States founded since 1956 to raise $1 billion in a single campaign. Part of that will be playing an instrumental role in assisting fundraising for several USF Athletics capital projects, including the USF Football Center.

• AN ATHLETIC BACKGROUND: Stroman played varsity basketball at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, graduating in 1991. He even once played in the Yuengling Center (then the Sun Dome), including a very memorable game vs. a Georgetown team that featured Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. Stroman's wife, Tonya, also played varsity basketball at Mercer and the pair coached their daughters, Allie and Holly, on youth basketball teams. He also spent five years as an assistant basketball coach at Mercer.
• FUNDRAISING SUCCESS: Stroman spent six years as Senior Associate Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs at the University of Georgia, where he had nine assistant vice presidents that reported to him. During his tenure, UGA increased its annual fundraising from $95 million to over $230 million, and increased the alumni participation rate from 9% to 14%. He also played a key role in securing a $30 million gift, the largest in the 200-plus year history of the state's flagship university, and establishing more than 500 endowed need-based scholarships.
• ATHLETIC FUND RAISING: Stroman worked closely with Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart in fundraising and believes in a strong synergy between campus and athletics development. Stroman worked closely with UGA Athletics to implement new fundraising initiatives that resulted in raising more than $120 million for new athletic facilities in four years. 
• WHY USF?: Stroman sees USF as "a special place with special people" and jumped at the opportunity to not only work at a university that he sees having great leadership and potential but to live and work in a vibrant Bay area community.

About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls' athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 55th season in 2020-21. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 19 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, and own 120 conference titles overall. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the fifth straight year in 2019-20 and have posted a program record 11 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 350 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.
 
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