What to know about the search firm Wichita State hired to find next athletic director
Wichita State University has hired Parker Executive Search, a search firm based in Atlanta, to help lead a national search for the school’s next athletic director, two sources with knowledge of the situation told The Eagle.
Parker Executive Search is the most popular search firm in the country for hiring AD’s, according to a study by AthleticDirectorU. The firm lists over 100 current athletic directors it has helped hire with more than two dozen in major conferences, including most recently Desiree Reed-Francois at Missouri and Danny White at Tennessee.
WSU president Rick Muma stated on May 4, the same day that WSU fired Darron Boatright, that the school would launch a national search for a new athletic director “with the assistance of an experienced search firm,” targeting someone “who shares our values, our vision and our passion for Shocker sports.”
An email asking for confirmation to Wichita State’s office of strategic communications on Thursday was not returned as of Saturday afternoon.
No timeline was given by Muma for the hire, but he did say the search would be done “expediently but diligently.” Parker Executive Search claims on its website that its company complete most sports-executive searches within five weeks, which makes mid-June a possible timetable for a replacement to be announced.
Wichita State hasn’t made an outside hire at athletic director since Jim Schaus in 1999 — Eric Sexton (2008-15) and Boatright (2015-22) were both already working for WSU when promoted to lead the athletic department. Sarah Adams, who was hired last summer as a senior associate athletic director, is serving as interim athletic director during the current search.
Muma also announced last week that he has asked six members of the WSU community to help advise him during the search. The advisory group features three former Shocker athletes, in Nate Robertson (baseball), Angela Buckner (women’s basketball) and Evan Wessel (men’s basketball), as well as John Rolfe (Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce president), Lynn Nichols (chair-elect of the WSU Foundation Board) and Clay Stoldt (interim dean of College of Applied Studies at WSU).
Daniel Parker is the vice president and managing director of sports at Parker Executive Search, while principal Grant Higgison, senior associate DeLaina Jordan and associate Taylor Middleton are also listed under the sports practice.
On its website, Parker Executive Search boasts of a “proprietary database” and “extensive contacts with thought leaders across the country.” Parker Executive Search also pledges to conduct original research into each client organization’s situation in order to assess candidate qualifications. The group says it offers “extensive experience in high-level negotiations.”
The firm will coordinate all interviews and travel logistics and assist WSU with interview preparation and help the school conduct extensive background and reference checks. The firm also promises to maintain complete confidentiality for candidates and clients.
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