Murray State University Athletics
From The Stables - Letter From the Desk of Director of Athletics Nico Yantko
12/30/2025 9:24:00 AM | General
Racer Nation,
I want to wish you and your family a Happy New Year from Marnie, Chaney, Gino, Cannoli, and I.
We have spent the last few weeks embracing all that Murray has to offer during the holiday season, while celebrating momentous and transformational progress and news along with special victories by many of our sports programs, including women's basketball's big wins over George Mason and Boston College and men's basketball's victories over George Washington and Akron, two of the MVC's top wins in non-conference play.
As we surge towards the end of the first half of the 2025-26 athletic year, we are thrilled with the amount of success that we have had thanks to the support of all of Racer Nation and their belief in our shared vision for excellence.
From our baseball team's historic run to the Men's College World Series, to another record fundraising year that has seen us raise $37 million over the last two years, to signing new long-term partnerships with Learfield and Nike, we are thrilled to continue the momentum we have built into 2026.
STRATEGIC PLAN
In October, we officially closed out the first iteration of our three-year strategic plan, THE RACE IS ON, that served as a road map to help the department navigate our transition into the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference. It was also the first athletics-specific strategic plan in Murray State history.
This strategic plan showcased the vast amount of progress we have made together since October 2022 by investing in PEOPLE, PLACES and PROGRAMS and prioritizing RECRUITING and REVENUE GENERATION.
With this plan closed out, we are turning our attention to our next three-year strategic plan, titled RACING TOWARDS EXCELLENCE, that will help guide the Racers into a new era of intercollegiate athletics while showcasing its commitment to investing in championship resources and a world-class student-athlete experience.
We are excited to share this new update with you all soon!
FACILITY PROJECT UPDATE
As enter Valley play for both basketball programs, we are also inching closer to the highly-anticipated renovation of the CFSB Center with demolition scheduled to begin on March 9.
WE WILL BE SHARING COMMUNICATION ON THE FULL SEATING ALLOCATION PROCESS PRIOR TO THE RENOVATION BEGINNING IN EARLY MARCH.
Below you will find important considerations in regards to this project:
The department also recently completed the groundbreaking of the Jim & Sue Cash Baseball Clubhouse, a monumental 3,000-square foot facility that features a new locker room, player lounge, team meeting room, and training room right behind the right field wall at Johnny Reagan Field.
Additional projects around Johnny Reagan Field that have been completed include:
DENNIS JACKSON LEADERSHIP PROGRAM/ACADEMIC UPDATES
We had another outstanding year thanks to our student-athletes and their participation in our Dennis Jackson Leadership Program. During our 2025 Civic Engagement Day, our student-athletes logged a SCHOOL-RECORD 610 hours of community service throughout Murray and Calloway County.
In the classroom, we are thrilled to announce that we have extended our streak of maintaining a 3.0 departmental GPA to 43 consecutive semesters after our student-athletes registered a 3.17 GPA, the ninth-best in the 43-semester streak.
Baseball led the way on the men's side with a 3.46 GPA and women's golf led all women's teams with a 3.72 GPA, while our men's basketball team recorded a 3.17 GPA, the program's highest GPA in SCHOOL HISTORY. Overall, 11 of our 14 programs exceeded their average team GPA over the last 43 semesters.
We are beyond thankful for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff for the commitment to excellence in the classroom!
WELCOME LEARFIELD!
Murray State Athletics and University are thrilled to welcome Learfield as our new multi-media rights partner. Learfield is a media and technology company powering college athletics that will help us transform our revenue generation, multimedia rights, and fan engagement solutions and capabilities.
This 10-year agreement will complement other Learfield enterprise services already on campus, including Learfield's licensed merchandise agency CLC and SIDEARM Sports fan engagement platform, and will give us access to new data analytics, fan experience initiatives, and sponsorship opportunities never realized before.
You can read more about the new partnership by clicking HERE.
STATE FARM ARCH MADNESS/CREDIT UNION 1 MVC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
It is time to start making plans to support our men's and women's basketball programs at State Farm Arch Madness in St. Louis and the Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament in Coralville, Iowa.
From now through the deadline on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, Racer fans get a discounted price of $175 per ticket to attend Arch Madness. Tickets can be purchased through the Murray State Ticket Office at the CFSB Center, by calling (270) 809-3000 or by clicking HERE.
NEW THIS YEAR: The St. Louis Union Station Hotel is the official hotel of the Racers for Arch Madness and will the hub of activity for the Murray State team, staff, spirit groups and fans. You can reserve a room at the hotel by clicking HERE.
Tickets for the Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament in Coralville, Iowa, are now available as well and can be purchased HERE.
We are making an incredible amount of progress TOGETHER, and we will stay laser focused on driving forward the nationally-recognized Murray State as we head into what will be an incredible athletics year in 2026.
I hope you have a Happy New Year, and as always…the BEST is yet to come!
Go Racers!
Nico Yantko
Director of Athletics
I want to wish you and your family a Happy New Year from Marnie, Chaney, Gino, Cannoli, and I.
We have spent the last few weeks embracing all that Murray has to offer during the holiday season, while celebrating momentous and transformational progress and news along with special victories by many of our sports programs, including women's basketball's big wins over George Mason and Boston College and men's basketball's victories over George Washington and Akron, two of the MVC's top wins in non-conference play.
As we surge towards the end of the first half of the 2025-26 athletic year, we are thrilled with the amount of success that we have had thanks to the support of all of Racer Nation and their belief in our shared vision for excellence.
From our baseball team's historic run to the Men's College World Series, to another record fundraising year that has seen us raise $37 million over the last two years, to signing new long-term partnerships with Learfield and Nike, we are thrilled to continue the momentum we have built into 2026.
STRATEGIC PLAN
In October, we officially closed out the first iteration of our three-year strategic plan, THE RACE IS ON, that served as a road map to help the department navigate our transition into the Missouri Valley Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference. It was also the first athletics-specific strategic plan in Murray State history.
This strategic plan showcased the vast amount of progress we have made together since October 2022 by investing in PEOPLE, PLACES and PROGRAMS and prioritizing RECRUITING and REVENUE GENERATION.
📈 Building something special through our shared vision for excellence!
— Murray State Racers Athletics (@MSURacers) October 1, 2025
Murray State Athletics closes out 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗡 strategic plan.
🔗: https://t.co/g5HMrRZSXB#GoRacers🏇 pic.twitter.com/8PxZ6tl2v6
With this plan closed out, we are turning our attention to our next three-year strategic plan, titled RACING TOWARDS EXCELLENCE, that will help guide the Racers into a new era of intercollegiate athletics while showcasing its commitment to investing in championship resources and a world-class student-athlete experience.
We are excited to share this new update with you all soon!
FACILITY PROJECT UPDATE
As enter Valley play for both basketball programs, we are also inching closer to the highly-anticipated renovation of the CFSB Center with demolition scheduled to begin on March 9.
WE WILL BE SHARING COMMUNICATION ON THE FULL SEATING ALLOCATION PROCESS PRIOR TO THE RENOVATION BEGINNING IN EARLY MARCH.
Below you will find important considerations in regards to this project:
- There WILL NOT BE A RE-SEAT of the arena.
- Season Ticket Holders will have the first right of refusal for their seats/comparable seat location if tickets are renewed or purchased in 2024-25, 2025-26, and 2026-27.
- Premium seats and club access will be allocated based on priority point rank and capital campaign gift considerations.
- Murray State Athletics will regularly communicate Racer Club priority rank to help fans consider gifts for opportunistic movement to leverage preferred premium seat locations or upgrade lower bowl seats.
- The renovation will resolve multiple ADA issues.
- This renovation will create a sustainable cycle of premium seating and entertainment options for all fans.
- Murray State will continue to prioritize outside events and activities for the local and regional communities.
SPECIAL day for Murray State Athletics & @RacersBaseball as we break ground on the Jim & Sue Cash Baseball Clubhouse!
— Murray State Racers Athletics (@MSURacers) December 12, 2025
🔗: https://t.co/xj72IeRr0k#GoRacers🏇 pic.twitter.com/LvrAydfi7F
The department also recently completed the groundbreaking of the Jim & Sue Cash Baseball Clubhouse, a monumental 3,000-square foot facility that features a new locker room, player lounge, team meeting room, and training room right behind the right field wall at Johnny Reagan Field.
Additional projects around Johnny Reagan Field that have been completed include:
- New scoreboard
- Brand-new outfield wall
- New drainage throughout the playing surface
- New videoboard, which stands to be one of the largest, baseball-specific boards in the country, will be installed ahead of the 2026 season.
- A new videoboard and new turf at Roy Stewart Stadium
- Recently announced Sandra Hartmann Press Box at Racer Field
DENNIS JACKSON LEADERSHIP PROGRAM/ACADEMIC UPDATES
We had another outstanding year thanks to our student-athletes and their participation in our Dennis Jackson Leadership Program. During our 2025 Civic Engagement Day, our student-athletes logged a SCHOOL-RECORD 610 hours of community service throughout Murray and Calloway County.
In the classroom, we are thrilled to announce that we have extended our streak of maintaining a 3.0 departmental GPA to 43 consecutive semesters after our student-athletes registered a 3.17 GPA, the ninth-best in the 43-semester streak.
Baseball led the way on the men's side with a 3.46 GPA and women's golf led all women's teams with a 3.72 GPA, while our men's basketball team recorded a 3.17 GPA, the program's highest GPA in SCHOOL HISTORY. Overall, 11 of our 14 programs exceeded their average team GPA over the last 43 semesters.
📈📚 Another 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗖 semester in the classroom for the Racers!
— Murray State Racers Athletics (@MSURacers) December 18, 2025
Murray State has now completed its 4️⃣3️⃣rd consecutive semester with a departmental GPA of 3.0 or higher!
🔗: https://t.co/YrgwBugWGk#GoRacers🏇 pic.twitter.com/otzWXJpgfq
We are beyond thankful for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff for the commitment to excellence in the classroom!
WELCOME LEARFIELD!
Murray State Athletics and University are thrilled to welcome Learfield as our new multi-media rights partner. Learfield is a media and technology company powering college athletics that will help us transform our revenue generation, multimedia rights, and fan engagement solutions and capabilities.
This 10-year agreement will complement other Learfield enterprise services already on campus, including Learfield's licensed merchandise agency CLC and SIDEARM Sports fan engagement platform, and will give us access to new data analytics, fan experience initiatives, and sponsorship opportunities never realized before.
📈✍️ A 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 partnership to propel us into the future!
— Murray State Racers Athletics (@MSURacers) December 22, 2025
Murray State has signed a new, long-term partnership with @Learfield!
🔗: https://t.co/2ta0wnfT86#GoRacers🏇 pic.twitter.com/wN7aAQlT84
You can read more about the new partnership by clicking HERE.
STATE FARM ARCH MADNESS/CREDIT UNION 1 MVC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
It is time to start making plans to support our men's and women's basketball programs at State Farm Arch Madness in St. Louis and the Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament in Coralville, Iowa.
From now through the deadline on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, Racer fans get a discounted price of $175 per ticket to attend Arch Madness. Tickets can be purchased through the Murray State Ticket Office at the CFSB Center, by calling (270) 809-3000 or by clicking HERE.
NEW THIS YEAR: The St. Louis Union Station Hotel is the official hotel of the Racers for Arch Madness and will the hub of activity for the Murray State team, staff, spirit groups and fans. You can reserve a room at the hotel by clicking HERE.
Tickets for the Credit Union 1 MVC Women's Basketball Tournament in Coralville, Iowa, are now available as well and can be purchased HERE.
* * *
We are making an incredible amount of progress TOGETHER, and we will stay laser focused on driving forward the nationally-recognized Murray State as we head into what will be an incredible athletics year in 2026.
I hope you have a Happy New Year, and as always…the BEST is yet to come!
Go Racers!
Nico Yantko
Director of Athletics
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