Huge day for the University of Houston.
I remember when it was announced that Mrs Khator was hired, my initial thought was they have just given up on sports all together.
In the last 15 years she has revived the school both academically and athletically.
She got buy in from the wealthy alumni, especially Tillman Fertitta Billions have been funneled into athletic facilities and academics.
She moved the school into the American Athletic Conference, which while it was not Power 5 it was better than most of the rest. Basketball and football started turning around. Higher rated athletes started staying home.
Basketball had Quentin Grimes go in the 1st round in 2021 and then got their first 1 and done lottery player Jarace Walker who went #8 and Marcus Sasser went #25 first time in decades they had two players go in the first round.
Football started putting out draftable players with recent first rounders like WIlliam Jackson III, Payton Turner and some guy named Oliver
higher rated home town kids have started staying home. They just had a kid decommit from LSU and stay home for football
UH was led by dimwits when the SWC fell apart, A&M tried to team with UH and follow Arkansas to the SEC but UH was bumbling around not knowing what to do. Then UT and A&M teamed up to go to the Big 8 UH then got ****** by the Governor of Texas who was a Baylor grad so they were left roaming the wilderness blindly until 2008 when Renu Khator was hired
Thanks to her leadership and belief that athletics is just as important as academics UH has now joined the Power 5. I know UT and OU are on the way out, but the schools remaining form a solid league for football and a very good basketball league.
They may lack a marquee name at the top, but from top to bottom in football they are competitive, and at least as good as the ACC.
Anyway, today I raise a toast to Renu Khator and celebrate her successes
As president of the University of Houston, Khator is the CEO of the UH System flagship university. The oldest and largest institution in the UH System, UH enrolls approximately 47,000 students and awards over 11,000 degrees each year.[7]
- In 2011, UH earned Tier One status for highest research activity from the Carnegie Foundation.[8]
- UH more than tripled the number of National Academy members on the faculty and dramatically improved the graduation rates.[8]
- UH has undergone an extensive era of construction under a $1-billion campus construction program, resulting in the 40,000-seat TDECU Stadium, increased student residence hall capacity to 8,000 and an $80-million expansion and renovation to the student center.[8]
- The university launched new athletic training facilities and venues, including the Fertitta Center, the Guy V. Lewis Basketball Training Complex and the Houston Baseball Player Development Center.[8]
- In 2015, UH was awarded a chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society.[8]
- In 2019, Khator helped raise more than $1 billion for UH's "Here, We Go" campaign, surpassing its goal 18 months ahead of its scheduled completion.
- In 2020, the university opened its new Tilman J. Fertitta College of Medicine, Houston's first medical school in more than 40 years.
- In 2021, UH accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference and all University sports teams will begin competing in the competition in 2023.[8