It's time for Ana Mari Cauce to step up and hire a home run AD

HairyBallsDawg · March 20

Who are the top 5 candidates?

Bob_C · March 20

Go outside the box and hire a straight business killer.

BleachedAnusDawg · March 20

Are either of the P2 whiner AD's any good at their jobs?

PostGameOrangeSlices · March 20

PGOS

DEREK

PLSS AI

BleachedAnusDawg · March 20

My pick last time around was the San Diego State AD.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2023/05/22/Sports-Business-Awards/athletic-director.aspx

J.D. Wicker, San Diego State University

It’s not often that an athletic director has an opportunity to build a football stadium from the ground up, but that’s exactly what J.D. Wicker has been doing at San Diego State. Wicker led a potentially thorny process to get Snapdragon Stadium to the finish line last season, bringing together the city of San Diego, the university and the athletics department in a way that kept the $310 million project on budget and on time for a 2022 opening.

Not that the stadium’s grand opening needed a cherry on top, but the men’s basketball team delivered one anyway. The Aztecs capitalized on a Mountain West championship with a run to the Final Four and eventually the national championship game before losing to Connecticut.

Wicker now takes the Aztecs into the eye of the conference realignment hurricane. The AD has uniquely positioned San Diego State to take advantage of any opportunities that might come along from the Pac-12 or Big 12, given the Aztecs’ geographic location in Southern California and their history of competitive success.

Since Wicker was hired in 2016, SDSU has won seven of 11 games against Pac-12 schools. “We’re not a flash in the pan,” he said.