Angelo State Athletics Receives $2 Million Gift

SAN ANGELO, TX — Just days after Angelo State University's announcement of its "Leading the Charge" centennial capital campaign, ASU has received a $2 million gift from the local Stephens Family toward one of the campaign's top priorities, the establishment of the Angelo State Athletics Endowment.

As a result of Angelo State's sustained success in intercollegiate athletics, many ASU coaches are annually courted by other universities, often at the Division I level, seeking similar outcomes for their athletics programs. The Angelo State Athletics Endowment will provide annual distributions to support a bonus structure for high-achieving ASU head and assistant coaches, with the goal of recruiting and retaining the best coaching staff for student-athlete development and success, as well as providing support for the general needs of ASU athletics.

With the $2 million gift from the Stephens Family - Steve and Pollyanna Stephens, Randy and Susan Brooks, and Devin and Liz Bates - ASU is now about halfway toward reaching its $5 million campaign goal for the Angelo State Athletics Endowment.

"For many of our student-athletes, athletics is their only avenue to higher education," said ASU President Ronnie Hawkins Jr. "I can identify with that having been a student-athlete myself. It's our responsibility to provide them with the best academic and athletic programs that allow them to reach their full potential in school and in life, and that couldn't happen without our outstanding coaches. This generous gift from the Stephens Family will allow us to retain both our head and assistant coaches who helped establish ASU's reputation for athletics excellence. I'm excited for both the possibilities and the stability the Angelo State Athletics Endowment will bring towards continuing to improve our athletic programs."

During the most recent 2023-24 seasons, Angelo State athletics teams again enjoyed the types of success that make Rams and Rambelles coaches popular targets for other universities. That success included:

• 1 - Team National Runner-Up Finish (Baseball)
• 2 - Regional Team Championships (Baseball, Tennis)
• 6 - Top 25 Final National Rankings
• 6 - National Team Academic Awards
• 12 - Lone Star Conference Player/Athlete of the Year Awards
• 56 - All-America & Academic All-America Honors
• 84 - All-Region & Academic All-Region Honors
• 91 - Student-Athlete Graduates
• 109 - All-LSC & Academic All-LSC Honors
• 3,267 - Hours of Community Service

"Here at Angelo State, we have great coaches who not only lead our student-athletes to excellence on the courts and fields, but also in the classroom and in the community," said James Reid, ASU director of athletics. "So, of course, they are going to get offers from other schools. The Angelo State Athletics Endowment will allow us to match or beat those offers so we can retain our outstanding coaching staff, and this incredible gift from the Stephens Family will go a long way toward making that happen."

Angelo State annually fields about 350 student-athletes in 15 intercollegiate sports, including six men's sports and nine women's sports. They are guided by approximately 35 head, assistant and graduate assistant coaches.