Wichita State moves Darron Boatright to interim athletics director

Wichita State interim athletics director Darron Boatright took over day to day leadership in the athletic department in April, which should help the transition that started on Wednesday.

Boatright moved from deputy athletics director to the top spot and Eric Sexton, athletic director since 2008, will give up his dual role over athletics and student affairs and work full-time as vice president of student affairs. WSU promoted Sexton to the student affairs position in April, but he continued to oversee athletics as executive athletic director.

“Darron is very good at what he does,” baseball coach Todd Butler said. “The one thing I like about Darron is he’s yes and no. He makes decisions. A lot of time, as a coach, you just want an answer about things, so you can move onto the next project for your program.”

In April, Boatright and Sexton both expressed a desire for little to change. Boatright, formerly senior associate athletic director, oversaw men’s basketball and baseball and supervised areas such as marketing, tickets and fund-raising before becoming deputy athletics director. He added duties involving areas such as compliance, academics, the business office and facilities to his responsibilities.

“From my standpoint, everything’s been seamless,” volleyball coach Chris Lamb said. “Because I know Darron, I’m excited that he gets this opportunity. I’m glad we’re going in that direction.

Boatright, hired at WSU in 2010, will take a lead role with president John Bardo in examining the future of Shockers athletics. On Tuesday, Bardo and Boatright discussed plans to look at adding sports, such as football or soccer, conference affiliation and facilities.

“We’re trying to grow and and any time you’re trying to grow, that’s a positive,” Butler said. “Dr. Bardo has great vision. I have total trust in what Dr. Bardo wants for our university.”

Under Sexton, Wichita State enjoyed some of its greatest moments, highlighted by the 2013 Final Four, three straight NCAA Tournament trips by the women’s basketball team and five Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Trophies. He also made the decision to fire baseball coach Gene Stephenson in 2013.

Lamb compared Sexton to Jim Schaus, his predecessor, for his willingness to let coaches do their jobs.

“Both of my athletic directors, they trusted me,” he said. “They don’t micro-manage. They wait for you to tell them what you need, and if they actually can help you, they do help. I’ve liked the leadership we’ve had here.”

Bardo said Sexton wanted to try a different role at the university, where he has worked since 1990. With that change in the works, Bardo is launching a full review of the athletic department and its future. He said that process may take at least a year.

“I’m going to use this time as transition to really look at ‘What can we be, what are the opportunities for us, what are the next steps to build off of what Eric is leaving?’” Bardo said. “I’m not committed to making a big change. I’m committed to understanding it.”

Boatright, 40, will help Bardo investigate three major areas to fullfill Bardo’s goals of improving student life and helping Wichita grow.

▪  Adding sports such as football and soccer, are under discussion. WSU currently offers 15 sport programs. One of Bardo’s top goals is boosting the atmosphere and activity on campus in the fall, a time he views as critical for enrollment and retention.

“Most freshmen make a decision on whether they’re going to graduate from a school within the first six weeks,” he said.

Should WSU add football, it may need to add women’s sports to satisfy Title IX requirements. That could mean a new sport, such as soccer, or taking an existing program, such as bowling or crew, and changing it from a club to NCAA status.

“It’s going to be a matter of support (for football),” Bardo said. “I’m not going to offer a third-rate football program. I’m not going to offer a third-rate anything.”

▪  WSU will look at its membership in the Missouri Valley Conference to try to determine if another conference option exists and position itself for future conference realignment.

▪  Facilities are under review, most prominently Koch Arena.

“The question for Koch, to me, is ‘Is it the right configuration?’” Bardo said. “Is there interest in (luxury) boxes? What would that look like? What are the events around basketball? Are there other things we ought to be encouraging to make it more of an event?”

A year ago, WSU announced a $15 million plan to build a student services building, southeast of Koch Arena. The plan also calls for the possibillity of adding six to 12 luxury suites, located on the Cessna Stadium side of Koch Arena, above existing seats. A $4.5 million donation from Koch Industries and the Koch Family Foundation started the athletics portion of the campaign.

“The luxury box issue has been on and off the table,” Bardo said. “It will come back on the table as part of this review.”

On Tuesday, Boatright said another donation moved the total over $5 million in a campaign still technically in its quiet phase before large numbers of donors are approached.

A new student services building would house academic and compliance offices, computer labs and study areas. The men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s track and field offices would move to the new building. A weight room, primarily for track and field, would occupy the first floor of the three-floor building. Track and field locker rooms would move from under Cessna Stadium to the new building.

In Koch Arena, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball would expand their office space. Marketing, development and media relations would move to the first floor, into the space vacated by academic services. Plans call for a renovated Champions Club and space for the souvenir store would double.

Boatright, 40, came to WSU after working at Alabama-Birmingham as associate athletics director. He also worked at Murray State as associate athletics director and at Alabama in the development department and as director of basketball operations.

Bardo said Boatright’s interim position will last indefinitely and there is no timetable to hire a permanent athletic director.

This story was originally published December 9, 2015 at 7:42 AM with the headline "Wichita State moves Darron Boatright to interim athletics director."