Murray State AD Kevin Saal hired as next Wichita State Shockers athletic director
A national search led by a search firm for the next athletic director at Wichita State University concluded on Wednesday with the hiring of Kevin Saal, the current athletic director at Murray State.
The hiring of Saal, a 44-year-old Kansas native, was the culmination of a six-week process conducted by Parker Executive Search that involved university president Rick Muma and his hand-picked advisory board. He will begin in the new position in mid-July, according to WSU’s press release.
“This is a new day for Shocker Athletics,” Muma said in a statement. “As we look to the future of our program, I am incredibly pleased to welcome Kevin to Shocker Nation. Kevin returns to his home state of Kansas with a strong, forward-thinking vision for our men’s and women’s intercollegiate athletics programs. Kevin is just the person to move WSU’s athletics program forward and push it to even greater heights.”
Experience as a sitting athletic director became a requirement in the search, according to sources, and Saal brings with him three years of AD experience from Murray State, where he was hired in March 2019.
“My wife Jennifer and I are incredibly humbled and blessed to accept this special opportunity to represent Wichita State University, Wichita State Athletics and Shocker Nation,” Saal said in a statement. “With great enthusiasm, gratitude and appreciation, we are thankful to President Muma and the Search Advisory Group for their trust, confidence and support.”
In the current climate of conference realignment, Saal was crucial in guiding Murray State up a level and sealing an invitation to the Missouri Valley Conference, as the Racers will officially join in 2023 when they depart from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Saal is also no stranger to overseeing a successful men’s basketball program, as Murray State is coming off a season where the Racers won 31 games, won both the regular season and postseason OVC championships and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed.
Following the season, Matt McMahon left Murray State to take the head coaching job at LSU. Saal led the replacement search and ultimately hired Steve Prohm, the former head coach at Iowa State, which was praised by many national media members.
Saal also has a wealth of experience at the University of Kentucky, where he worked for 12 years and ascended to executive associate athletic director. He was praised for his relationships with Kentucky donors and was credited for being heavily involved in unprecedented facilities growth, which included a $135 million project to renovate its football field and a $49 million construction project to build a baseball stadium.
Saal also assisted in hosting more than 100 external events at Kentucky, which brought in $350,000 of new revenue. The Kentucky men’s soccer and baseball programs each experienced success during his time overseeing them, as the men’s soccer team ended an NCAA drought and played in five of seven NCAA Tournaments and the baseball team won its first NCAA regional title in 2017 and made its first Super Regional appearance.
At Wichita State, Saal will replace Darron Boatright, who was fired without cause on May 4 by Muma and reached a $300,000 settlement with the university last month. Sarah Adams has been serving as WSU’s interim athletic director since the dismissal.
According to sources, the initial round of virtual interviews that involved around a dozen candidates began last week with four finalists meeting with the search committee, led by Muma, in Kansas City earlier this week.
Saal recently signed a contract extension through 2026 at Murray State with an annual salary of $170,000. Financial terms of Saal’s deal at WSU were not immediately known, although for comparison, Boatright’s base salary was $275,000.
While Saal has no prior Wichita State connections, he does have experience in the state of Kansas. He earned a Master of Science degree in athletics administration at the University of Kansas in 2000, then worked at Kansas State from 2000-05 where he was an event coordinator and had administrative responsibilities.
Saal is a former Division I swimmer who started his career at Arkansas, then transferred to Texas Christian when the program was discontinued. He graduated from TCU in 1999 with a degree in psychology. He is married to his wife, Jennifer, with two sons, Jacob and Alex.
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 5:15 PM.
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