Q&A with Wright State AD candidate Teter
Friday, May 09, 2008
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi athletic director Brian Teter is one of four finalists for the Wright State athletic director job from which Dr. Michael Cusack is retiring after 26 years.
Interviews with the finalists — including WSU associate AD Bob Grant; Kevin McNamee, deputy associate athletic director at George Mason University; and Texas Tech senior associate director of athletics Stephen Downing — will take place the rest of this month under the direction of Dr. Dan Abrahamowicz, WSU vice president of student affairs.
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Get latest headlines via RSS feedsHow Teter sees the job:
Q Where can WSU go with its athletics program?
A You can never stop building your program. I haven't been able to dig deep to see what's there and what's not there. Obviously it's a program that's on the rise. Any time your most visible sport does well, it speaks volumes and enhances the university.
Athletics is the front door of every university. So when Wright State's basketball team made the NCAA a couple years ago, that had to be a huge shot in the arm. It was for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi when we made it last year and almost beat Wisconsin in the first round.
Q Why are athletics so important to a university?
A Athletics are so visible and touches so many different constituencies. It can help an entire university. As Wright State continues to improve to being strong up and down its athletic program, it allows the entire program to do great things from top to bottom.
Q What are WSU's strengths and weaknesses?
A I don't see any warning flags, or red flags. There looks to be a commitment to athletics. Athletics can stimulate and energize a university.
I see it as a program on the rise. Everybody would like more exposure. Branding, getting the word out about your university. You can never promote and cross-promote and brand your name enough.
I've sat in a major conference, Conference USA, when we put that together. Wright State is a major player in the Horizon League. I like to be part of something special.
Q What is special about the Horizon League?
A I think what (commissioner) Jon LeCrone has done in the Horizon League is terrific. Things are on the upswing. Their facilities are great.
When you think of the Horizon League, you need to think of Wright State. That would be the ultimate goal. Because of their basketball success the last few years, Butler's name comes to mind first. It's important to associate all that with Wright State. I'm flattered Wright State asked me to come up and interview.
