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Jim Sterk will become Mizzou's new Athletic Director, University of Missouri Interim Chancellor Hank Foley announced today. Sterk, who joined San Diego State University in 2010, has overseen the most successful five seasons in SDSU's athletic history with 32 team conference championships for the Aztecs since the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year and the fourth-highest combined winning percentage in the country in football and men's basketball. In addition, SDSU is one of only four schools nationally to have appeared in six consecutive NCAA tournaments and have its football team play in five straight bowl games. "This is a wonderful day for Mizzou and Tiger fans everywhere," Foley said. "Jim's leadership in intercollegiate athletics is unparalleled, and we are thrilled he is going to bring his talents, energy and passion for working with student-athletes to Columbia. He is just what Mizzou needs at this time." read more:http://mutigers.com/news/2016/8/9/mizzou-announces-jim-sterk-as-new-athletic-director.aspx
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The University of North Texas Board of Regents unanimously approved the hiring of Wren Baker as the school’s athletic director Friday. The man who spent the past 14 months as Missouri’s deputy athletic director and the past two weeks overseeing the department on an interim basis after the abrupt departure of Mack Rhoades to Baylor will be formally introduced in his new job during a press conference Monday morning. Baker took time Saturday morning to talk to the Tribune’s Steve Walentik about the decision to move to Denton, Texas, the timing with which it was made and some impressions of the program he’s leaving behind in Columbia. Here is a transcript of that conversation, edited for length and clarity. Q: Why was this a good opportunity for you? A: One, there’s only a finite number Division I, FBS AD jobs, and those are hard to get, and when you get that opportunity — kind of like a head-coaching opportunity — it’s something that you’ve really got to look at. And North Texas is one that I think is a really great opportunity, because they have a lot of the things that you need to be successful — all the things that you need. They’ve got great location. It’s an area that’s rich in talent for just about every sport. It’s in a city that’s a desirable location to live and to recruit to in Denton and the DFW Metroplex, and then for Heather and I, it really fits us just because it’s by far and away the closest that we’ve been to home, especially since we had our two kids. So to be 90 miles from her parents (in Calera, Okla.) and 150 miles from where I grew up (in Valliant, Okla.) was something that was important to us. Q: I wanted to ask you about the timing of things. North Texas officials have known they were going to need a new athletic director since late May, and Rick Villareal left officially in late June. How long had you been talking to them? How long was your name in the mix for this job? A: The timeline gets a little bit blurry just in terms of knowing the days and stuff. We had a baseball search and then Mack’s situation. When they selected a search firm, the search firm initially kind of reached out to me and said, “We’ve got this job. We still have to visit with them, find out a little bit more about the profile they’re looking for, but we think this is one that you would be a good candidate for.” I don’t remember the exact time. It was before our baseball search for sure. But it’s one of those things where I’ve gotten probably a couple of dozen of those calls over the past few years, so you’re not guaranteed the job. It’s just like, “Hey, we’re going to present them with 10-20 candidates. You might be one of those names we present. With your permission we’d like to do a little more work on this.” So that call came, and then probably maybe somewhere else along the way a few weeks later, maybe shortly before or shortly after the baseball search, they just said, “OK, we’ve defined more of the profile of the candidate that we’re looking for. We still feel like that you would be a really good fit. Would you be OK with us moving your candidacy forward?” At that point in time, I told them that I would, and then you just kind of play the waiting game. So I didn’t know anything more until probably four or five days after Mack’s announcement. I did tell the chancellor in our conversation that, “Hey, this could become an opportunity. There’s no defined timeline. I haven’t been promised a job. I haven’t been promised an interview. But this would be something — if it developed — that I’d want to take a look at.” I got the call a few days after Mack’s announcement and then came down a few days after that and interviewed in Dallas, and that led to them ultimately offering me the job. read more: http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu/baker-says-unt-showed-early-interest/article_d65e4853-4828-55df-aa81-612f4c16861b.html
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Most of these are from AD Departments throughout the country. Man is very liked and well respected in this business.
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Please post a gif or picture/video only response to your feelings about the Baker hire today.
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DENTON (UNT), Texas − Today, the University of North Texas System Board of Regents voted unanimously to appoint Wren Baker as the new UNT Vice President and Director of Athletics, effective Aug. 22. Baker, who currently is the interim Director of Athletics at the University of Missouri, will be officially introduced to the UNT community during a press conference at 10 a.m., Monday Aug. 1, 2016, in The Hub Club (Level 3) of Apogee Stadium. "Wren Baker's passion for college sports is unmatched, and he is a proven effective leader with critical experience in hiring coaches, efficiently administering an athletics department, increasing support across the board and taking care of student-athletes," UNT President Neal Smatresk said. "I believe he will move athletics at UNT to the next level of success, and I am excited for the future." Read what athletics leaders are saying about Wren Baker. In 2015, Baker began his tenure as the Deputy Director of Athletics at Missouri, where he was responsible for assisting the athletic director with the administration of the SEC athletics program. He led the athletic department's external relations team, including development, marketing, licensing, the ticket office and strategic communications. During his first year at Missouri, Baker oversaw the implementation of a new annual fund model and restructured the external team. "I am grateful to President Smatresk, the search committee and the UNT System Board of Regents for their confidence in me, and I am humbled to serve our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans," Baker said. "I consider it a great honor and privilege to join the Mean Green family. I look forward to working with all of our fans and constituents to build an athletics program that will be recognized nationally for competitive excellence and academic achievement. UNT and the Denton community provide everything we need to be successful, and I can't wait to get started." Prior to arriving at Missouri, Baker served as the Deputy Athletics Director from 2013 to 2015 at the University of Memphis, where he oversaw external relations and assisted in department operations. At Memphis, Baker initiated a complete reorganization that resulted in improved efficiencies and hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings while increasing revenues in ticket sales, annual fund support, major gifts and multimedia rights, including setting a record for football suite sales, major gifts and overall donations. Baker served as the Director of Athletics at NCAA Division II power Northwest Missouri State University from 2010-2013. He also served as the first Director of Athletics and Head Men's Basketball Coach at Rogers State University, where he led the formation of the athletic department while posting an inaugural 20-11 record before stepping down to become the full-time Athletics Director. Baker will succeed Rick Villarreal, who stepped down in June after nearly 16 years as UNT's Director of Athletics. UNT's Department of Athletics has 16 NCAA Division I teams competing in Conference USA, including football, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The Mean Green have earned 123 conference championships and four national championships. DENTON (UNT), Texas − Today, the University of North Texas System Board of Regents voted unanimously to appoint Wren Baker as the new UNT Vice President and Director of Athletics, effective Aug. 22, 2016. Here’s what some are saying: Joe Castiglione, University of Oklahoma Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics: "I have known Wren Baker for many years throughout his career journey, and I can say with total confidence that he is truly one of the rising leaders within intercollegiate athletics and will do a great job at North Texas. I've been a huge fan of Wren's since I watched him build the Rogers State athletics program from scratch. The blend of Wren's background in coaching, administrative experience and character, along with his innate ability to develop positive relationships with all key stakeholders within a campus community, will continue to serve him well. Wren and his wife, Heather, will be key contributors to the enhancement of the student-athlete experience and in strengthening the entire Mean Green athletic program. Congratulations to Wren and UNT." Michael L. Aresco, Commissioner of the American Athletic Conference: "This is a spectacular hire. Having known and worked with Wren while he was at Memphis, he is an extremely experienced, personable and capable executive and will do a great job for North Texas. The college sports landscape has never been more challenging, and Wren's intelligence and vision will be enormously important to North Texas and Conference USA." Mack Rhoades, Baylor University Vice President for Athletics: "Wren Baker is a rising leader in our industry. He is an extremely talented administrator and person of great character. His background in coaching and administration and dedication to the student-athlete experience will serve UNT Athletics terrifically well. He will establish positive relationships with student-athletes, coaches, staff, the University community, alumni/fans/donors, media and other key constituents. Wren is the perfect person to lead North Texas Athletics and the UNT family will love Wren, his wife Heather and their two children, Addisyn and Reagan." Bubba Cunningham, University of North Carolina Director of Athletics: "The University of North Texas has made a great hire in Wren Baker. Wren has an uncanny ability to relate to people and create a positive, enthusiastic, and winning attitude with students, coaches, fans and alumni. He has a wonderful family and will be an outstanding addition to the University of North Texas community. His affinity for students and coaches is heartfelt and genuine. Wren will be a galvanizing leader for the campus community, and I wish him and his family all the best. Congratulations to all." Eddie Sutton, Former Oklahoma State Men's Basketball Head Coach: “Wren is a terrific choice to lead the UNT athletics program. He is one of the brightest and hardest working staff members I've had work for me. He was wonderful for us at OSU. Our coaches and players loved him. He will be a great ambassador for the university and community. He will be tireless in his pursuit for excellence. I am happy for Wren and North Texas." Tom Bowen, University of Memphis Director of Athletics: "Wren Baker is one of the finest people I have had the pleasure to work with. He is a bright and highly talented athletic leader and is the perfect choice for North Texas. I am very happy for Wren and his family and know he will do a fantastic job." -
Stay tuned as I would expect we should hear something final on this shortly.
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According to Baker's Memphis bio, he has led 13 head coaching searches. Those searches resulted in coaches who have combined to win over 70% of their games. Not a bad percentage. source: http://ktgr.com/mack-rhoades-hires-wren-baker-as-deputy-athletic-director/
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Much like new Mean Green head football coach Seth Littrell, Baker is a young Oklahoma native who views the North Texas job as an opportunity to move closer to home while taking over a program with a high ceiling. Littrell hails from Muskogee, Okla., and played for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, while Baker is a Valliant, Okla., native that jumped into college sports administration as a basketball operations assistant under Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State. At North Texas, Baker would inherit a retooling football program and a men’s basketball program that has seen both its attendance and win totals drop following Johnny Jones’ 2012 departure for LSU. The Mean Green finished 245th in the 2015-16 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, second-to-last among FBS institutions. Baker’s first key decision would be whether or not to retain interim AD Hank Dickenson, a quarter-century veteran of the department and candidate for the full-time AD job who is extremely popular both within the department and in the community. Read more:. http://footballscoop.com/news/sources-wren-baker-heavy-favorite-new-ad-north-texas/#
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Two weeks after its athletic director abruptly resigned, Missouri is set to lose its interim athletic director, Wren Baker, by the end of the week. Baker is the leading candidate for the vacant athletic director job at North Texas and is expected to be offered the position Friday when the school’s board of regents meets, a source told The Star. The University of North Texas System Boards of Regents has convened “a Special Called meeting by telephone” at 1 p.m. Friday to discuss “consideration of individual personnel matters related to the appointment of and an employment agreement with a UNT Athletic Director.” At that meeting, Baker is expected to be hired as Rick Villarreal’s successor. Villarreal stepped down in May after 15 seasons with the Mean Green, which included the construction of Apogee Stadium for $78 million in 2011. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/article92221477.html#storylink=cpy Baker was hired in May 2015 as Missouri’s deputy athletic director under Mack Rhoades, who resigned July 13 to accept the same post at Baylor. After Rhoades’ departure, MU interim chancellor Hank Foley made Baker interim athletic director despite the fact that Baker already had been contacted by a search firm representing North Texas about its opening, multiple sources told The Star. Baker’s anticipated departure will leave Missouri without an athletic director for the second time this month. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/article92221477.html#storylink=cpy Read more:. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/sec/university-of-missouri/article92221477.html -
UNT hires Missouri's Wren Baker as new athletic director
Harry posted a topic in Mean Green Football
Dan Wolken | USA TODAY Sports43 minutes ago North Texas will hire Wren Baker as its athletics director, a person familiar with the process told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the school has not officially announced the hire. Read more:. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2016/07/27/north-texas-hires-missouri-wren-baker-new-athletic-director/87618550/?siteID=je6NUbpObpQ-vDhOhlrHF1_78JUKWlqaGw -
Dated, as this was when he was at Memphis (He is interim at Missouri now): When he was 26 years old, he was the youngest school principal in Oklahoma. When he was 27, he was the first athletic director and men's basketball coach at a state school transitioning to a four-year university with eyes on NCAA membership. When he was 32, in the first few months of his tenure as athletic director at a Division 2 power, he was tasked with replacing a retiring legend of a coach and then replacing the new coach after his sudden death. So, yes, Wren Baker, the new No. 2 man at the University of Memphis athletic department, has had his share of quick studies. How he's handled them is what impressed Tom Bowen, the Tigers' athletic director, and led to his hiring last month to oversee all of the department's external operations. "This young man is a rising rock star in this business," Bowen said. Baker, 34, arrived in Memphis just a few weeks ago. He's still getting settled into his second-floor office near the Hardaway Hall of Fame, in the school's relatively new offices for development staff. With the Tigers, he will have a hodgepodge of roles, including oversight of the department's fundraising, marketing, licensing and ticket office. His background in college basketball, though, is of particular interest to Bowen. Baker was involved in helping to execute last week's decision by Bowen to extend coach Josh Pastner's contract. And Baker fondly recalls staying up late with Pastner a few weeks back talking shop. "I will be very involved in the basketball program," Baker said. "That's what Tom's indicated he wants me to do. That's a good fit." Baker's career in college athletics began ever so appropriately for the new No. 2 at Memphis: with a FedEx overnight envelope. read more: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/new-memphis-deputy-ad-wren-baker-has-been-quick-riser--and-quick-study-ep-362197754-326793631.html
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