Evansville hires local banker as new Athletic Director

[Da Coach]

In a bizarre move, the University of Evansville announced their new Athletic Director Friday. He is a local banker named John Stanley.
Stanley has never worked previously for any University, nor has he ever had any prior experiance at any level in runnibg or managing an athletic department. He is the Southern Region CEO and President of the Evansville Metro Region of Old National Bank, and a member of the Bancorp???‚¬?„?s Executive Leadership Group, and has been in banking all his life.
Upon being introduced, University of Evansville President Stephen Jennings said that Stanley has a "tremendous passion for athletics" and that he "was the ideal candidate for the job...he is willing to bring his business acumen to the University to address the Athletics Department goals. He has what it takes to strategize and partner with the UE community to promote the vision of UE athletics and lead the program forward.???‚¬??
He has been a big booster for UE athletics, and for the past two years he has been president of the Purple Aces Club, the Department of Athletics???‚¬?„? official booster organization.

http://gopurpleaces.com/article.asp?articleid=85615

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/may/05/ue/

Strange. This man has absolutely no experience running a collegiate athletic program, and the NCAA is more complex, and frought with compliance issues than ever. Maybe this guy is a quick learner? Wouldn't it have been better for him to work as an assistant somewhere for a couple years before taking over a Division I program? This move seems more about money than about leading UE athletics to success.
Shouldn't Evansville be more concerned about producing successful sports programs, instead of pulling down the MVC in nearly every sport every year?
If being a strong booster is the main criteria for being Athletic Director, then maybe we all have hope we can replace Ken Kavanagh when he retires!

[tornado]

They have had decades to try that approach and it hasn't worked.
What they have done now is bring in a guy that IS SUCCESSFUL at something...he is successful at accomplishing his goals and he is successful at getting things done.
I am willing to give the guy a chance.

[Da Coach]

Re: Evansville hires local banker as new Athletic Director

Exactly what many were saying about the Jim Les hire

True, but at least Jim Les had many years of experience playing and coaching basketball, just not at the college level. He was hired to coach what he had proven that he knows and does very well. He has a brilliant mind for coaching and for the game of basketball, something that many people knew and attested to before he was hired.

And I seem to remember that an awful lot of people raise holy heck about the Jim Les hiring. I recall that I couldn't pick up a newspaper for years afterward without seeing self-serving attcks on Jim Les, or cute reference to his past job as a stockbroker. In fact, there are still people who can't get over the hiring of Jim Les! So I will not be surprised if more than just I think this is a strange move.

This hire is different than that of Jim Les. What comparable experience does this new Evansville AD have regarding sports or sports management at any level? What familiarity does he have with the NCAA and it's vast number of rules and regulations? What experience does he have with scheduling for the sports teams, compliance issues, scholarships, NCAA calendars, doling out monies to the various sports, fundraising, and the innumerable duties of Div I ADs these days? Maybe it will be easy to learn on the fly, good luck. If this approach worked, other schools would be doing it, but I can't find an example anywhere of a Division I university (or any level) hiring their AD directly from the business world or from their booster group. Just my opinion here, but with all the talent available among the staffs of hundreds of other universities, they hired the head of their booster group to run their entire athletic department? Why not just let him coach the basketball team and they could have saved money on the Marty Simmons hire. Heck, I have some management skills, do you think any MVC schools might hire me as their Athletic director?

[Da Coach]

Well I say its their decision. If you always do what youve always done, youll always get what youve always gotten. So kudos to them for stepping outside the box. Who are we to judge them

Funny, but that's not what many people said when Jim Les was hired!

Like I said above, there were tons of people complaining loudly, and some still can't get over the coach that Bradley hired over 5 years ago, even though he had a lot more qualifications and experience for the job he was hired for than John Stanley has for a Div I Athletic Director's job.

Sure, it's their program, and they can do what they want. But IMO, it's an unexplainable move, and I expect this poor guy to soon find himself in over his head.

[Da Coach]

One other thing about this that I find odd that nobody in the Evansville press has questioned. The previous Athletic Director, Bill McGillis is leaving Evansville to take a job as assistant Athletic Director at the University of South Florida. Maybe it is a better job, but it sounds like a lateral move at best.

Why would an Athletic Director at a solid Div I school in a top conference like Evansville/MVC leave that job to become an assistant at another school that IMO is not a school that has ever excelled at anything. It sounds like it could be a bail-out. Maybe something is wrong at Evansville, and the previous AD is getting out while the getting is good. Maybe that's why they couldn't attract anyone with legitimate qualifications to take the job?
Maybe they are secretly considering dropping out of Division I athletics again? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[tornado]

I have done a search and agree it is highly unusual and can find no other example of a major school hiring as its athletic director, someone with no experience whatsoever, so it is quite odd.
Anyone who thinks otherwise, is being naive.

Indeed it would be like hiring Ray Becker to be AD at Bradley, then maybe the Bu-bashers would really have something to whine and cry about!

[Da Coach]

It looks like the Evansville fans who post on the Valleytalk site are fairly evenly split, with quite a few opposed to this move--

http://valleytalk.net/showthread.php?t=4691

[tornado]

we certainly had a situation five years ago here, where there was split opinion over the hiring of Jim Les, but in the end, those who stubbornly held onto their unreasonable anti-Jim Les opinions have all died out.

I say give the new Evansville guy some time, and see if he can quiet his detractors the way Jim Les has quieted all of his.

[meth]

I saw some suggestion on a message board that he is a big financial contributor and possibly "bought" the position.

[wingrider81]

I just cannot believe that first DaCoach and then Tornado can
be so negative. It's as if you owned da place.

Coach what could be better than having a banker as an AD?
Say,for example you are the President of a private university
in southern Indiana. You gotta know how easy it is to slip down
to KY and maybe lose a bundle playing da ponies? Or your par-
lay cards betting IU, Purdue, and Notre Dame take a dive on
you? So you gotta make a move when them bone-breakers come
collecting on dem bad chits? No worries!! You gotta Ace (HaHa)
in da hole. You calls up da new AD Stanley. You says "Get down
here pronto and bring this years' meal money in cash. I gotta
coupla piranhas I need to feed." Problem solved. Case closed.

Tornado, You're negatory too. What's wrong with G Raymond
Becker being the AD? Some wise guy writes a bad article
about da team, da coaches, or even GASP.. da administation,
ya dump dat extra yard or two of mud onto his front
seat. Problem solved. Case closed. And ya gotta remember dat
dis was da guy who built dose twin towers, so he's gotsta know
a little about da game.

[Da Coach]

Wingrider, I wish I would have consulted you first. It is all so clear now that you expained your theory!

[Chico]

Not to argue Coach, but earlier you mentioned that Evansville pulls the Valley down, then you call them a solid Division 1 program.

[Da Coach]

When I referred to Evansville as a solid Div I program I am talking about them as a member of the MVC, a highly respected conference, and the potential that brings for success. UE has the potential to succeed the same as Creighton or Bradley (just to pick 2 similar sized private institutions). There are about half of all Div I schools that do not have the capability to be as successful in most sports as the schools in the MVC have. But they have failed to do so and that is what drags the MVC down. Any school can have bad years, but Indiana State and Evansville have had a lot ore of them than any other MVC school in the past 15-20 years, and not just in men's basketball. If I was a UE fan, I would be willing to give them time to turn things around, but 5 years ago they made the same changes and things just got worse. Now they hire an AD with zero experience. If that approach can work, why hasn't any other school ever done it?
Unlike a lot of people, I have never suggested UE get out of the Valley. I just want them to have some of the same success that other schools have. I just don't see it happening with the approach they are taking.

[tornado]

Tornado, You're negatory too. What's wrong with G Raymond
Becker being the AD? Some wise guy writes a bad article
about da team, da coaches, or even GASP.. da administation,
ya dump dat extra yard or two of mud onto his front
seat. Problem solved. Case closed. And ya gotta remember dat
dis was da guy who built dose twin towers, so he's gotsta know
a little about da game.

hey, I actually supported the guy!!!...

I am willing to give the guy a chance

I say give the new Evansville guy some time, and see if he can quiet his detractors

[Chico]

You're right coach. When Evansville came into the MVC I thought they would be a good fit for basketball, but they haven't lived up to my expectations. On the reverse side, I wasn't too happy when Northern Iowa was admitted to the league, but they have been a great addition.