Year in Review - Starting at 11 a.m.

RUSTON -- When track and field star Mia Adams completed her final jump at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon last week, it signaled the culmination of a highly-successful year for Louisiana Tech Athletics.

From individual success stories such as Adams to team achievements to overall department milestones, 2015-16 was filled with plenty of highs, making it one of the most successful for Louisiana Tech and its student-athletes in some time.

"What a great job by our coaches, our student-athletes and our support staff this past year," said Tech Athletics Director Tommy McClelland. "It was truly a memorable year in so many ways. We preach building champions on the field, in the classroom and in life, and I truly believe we had more than our share of all of those during the past 12 months.

"I think this year was one we can build upon. We never want to be satisfied, and we are always striving for even greater things. That's our philosophy. However, when we look back at the past year, we know that a lot of blood and sweat and tears went into the successes that Louisiana Tech and its student-athletes had on the playing fields and in the classroom."

How good was 2015-16?

Louisiana Tech joined Florida, Florida State, Ohio State and Ole Miss as the only five Football Bowl Subdivision schools to recorded 9-plus wins in football, 20-plus wins in men's basketball and 40-plus wins in baseball. That's pretty elite company.

It was also one of only 12 FBS programs to play in the postseason in each of those three sports, joining Florida, Connecticut, Florida State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Washington, Duke, Arizona, Utah and Miami (Fla.). Not a bad crowd in which to be included.

It started in late August when the brand new $23 million Davison Athletics Complex -- which encloses the south end of Joe Aillet Stadium -- opened and the second largest crowd in Tech football history watched the Bulldogs defeat Southern in the season opener.

It was just the beginning of a great season for head coach Skip Holtz and the Bulldogs, which culminated with a dominating 47-28 victory over Sun Belt Conference champion Arkansas State in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. It was the first back-to-back bowl victories by LA Tech in program history (Tech defeated Illinois in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl).

A total of seven Bulldogs off of that team will get an opportunity to play in the NFL, including Vernon Butler (Carolina Panthers, 1st round), Kenneth Dixon (Baltimore Ravens, 4th round) and Jeff Driskel (San Francisco 49ers, 6th round). Butler became the first Bulldog selected in the NFL 1st round since Troy Edwards in 1999.

The fall also saw yet another successful season for the Lady Techster soccer team highlighted by its regular season finale win over C-USA regular season and tournament champion and NCAA Tournament participant North Texas. Tech also picked up its 100th program win and qualified for the third time in the last four years. Lady Techster Katie Sloan also became the 17th student-athlete in LA Tech history to earn Academic All-American honors.

On the volleyball court, the Lady Techsters continued to take some strides, recording the programs best record since 2011 and registering the most conference wins since 2009. Jacie McClure was selected to the C-USA All-Academic team while five players were named to the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. Louisiana Tech also made the announcement in the fall that it partnered with adidas America, Inc. to establish a transformational 5-year exclusive agreement that will outfit all 16 NCAA men's and women's programs in adidas uniforms, apparel, footwear and equipment through the 2020-2021 athletics season.

The winter saw the return of the Bulldogs and the Lady Techsters on the hardwood. First year head coach Eric Konkol led the Bulldogs to 23 wins, the most by a first year head coach in program history; eight of those wins came against teams that participated in the postseason, including Ohio State and Florida Gulf Coast.

Tech advanced to its fourth straight postseason tournament, the longest stretch since 1988-92 while senior guard Alex Hamilton was named the Conference USA Player of the Year and honorable mention AP All-American.

On the women's side, senior Brandi Wingate led the Lady Techsters, earning first team all-CUSA honors while also being named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State Player of the Year. Following the conclusion of the season, former Lady Techster Brooke Stoehr returned to her alma mater as the seventh head coach in the program's storied history.

As impressive as the first two-thirds of the athletics calendar was for Louisiana Tech, the spring season might have been the athletic departments best in decades. Baseball, golf, softball, track and field and tennis kept the University in the headlines with success story after success story.

Greg Goff and the Bulldog baseball team made history. After being picked 11th out of 12 teams in the preseason C-USA Coaches poll, the Diamond Dogs proceeded to post 10 wins over Top 25 teams, including a three-game conference sweep of the Rice Owls. Tech earned the program's first ever at-large berth and its first regional appearance since 1987, defeating 4-time NCAA champion Cal State Fullerton as well as Ohio Valley Conference champion Southeast Missouri State in the Starkville Regional. Tech's 42 wins were the sixth most in program history and the most since 1988.

As big of a surprise as the Bulldog baseball team was to many people, the LA Tech golf team might have been an even bigger underdog and success story. After a tough fall and spring season, head coach Jeff Jenkins bunch entered the C-USA championships as the No. 8 seed. However, over the course of five days in Texarkana, the Bulldogs shocked everyone in route to capturing the team title (its first since 1980) and clinching the program's first ever appearance in the NCAA Regionals. Led by Victor Lange, Tech received notable contributions from everyone along the way in making history.

The Lady Techster softball team recorded a 32-win season, its first back-to-back 30-plus win seasons since the late 1990s. After a tough C-USA start that saw them drop five of its first six games, head coach Mark Montgomery and Co. won five straight league series for the first time in program history and fell just percentage points shy of winning the West Division. Tech broke more than a dozen offensive records while recording its first win over a Top 25 team since 2009. Tech also drew a program home record 1,927 fans to watch the Lady Techsters host LSU.

LA Tech saw more firsts during the spring as the Lady Techster tennis team recorded the program's first win over a nationally ranked team (defeated No. 45 Georgia State) while also earning its first ever national ranking, spending three weeks in the Oracle/ITA National Team Rankings (as high as No. 66 in the country). Alexandra Starkova became the first player in program history to earn all-conference honors four straight years (1st team All-CUSA) while coach Chad Camper was named the LSWA State Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.

The LA Tech track and field teams also had some impressive individual performances as Jermey Hicks earned second team all-American honors in the indoor 60-meters, advancing to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Adams represented the University in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, competing in the long jump in Eugene.

Off the playing field, the LA Tech Athletics Department had a stellar year as well. Seventy-five student-athletes earned their bachelor's or master's degrees while 151 made the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and 27 received the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal.

Tech's student-athletes recorded a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 83 percent and a Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) of 62 percent, with both being record highs for the University. Louisiana Tech's 83 percent graduation success rate ranks as the second highest in the state among Division I football-playing public institutions, trailing only LSU by one point (84). Tech also recorded the second highest federal graduation rate of any Division I football-playing public institution in the state at 62 percent, which also bests last year's mark of 60 percent.

Tech alumni and fans also continued to buy in to the vision for the athletic department as the Louisiana Tech Athletics Club (LTAC) set an all-time high in total LTAC giving and most total LTAC donors.

A number of former LA Tech student-athletes were also honored during the year. In the fall the University inducted 10-year NFL veteran running back Robert Brunet, 1998 Biletnikoff Award winner Troy Edwards, Bulldog basketball all-time leading scorer and rebounder Mike Green, 1989 Kodak All-American Nora Lewis and 1987 All-American shortstop Charlie Montoyo into its Athletics Hall of Fame.

In late June former Bulldog and NBA great PJ Brown will be enshrined into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap also earned his third straight appearance in the NBA All-Star game.

It's truly been an elite year for Louisiana Tech Athletics, its student-athletes and coaches. And a year where the Tech fan base made memories of a lifetime.