Cottingham named MU athletic director Steve Cottingham, who served as interim athletic director at Marquette University since January 2007, on Thursday was named the school's new athletic director.
He replaces Bill Cords, who retired in December 2006.
The announcement was somewhat of a surprise because Cottingham had told the Journal Sentinel in previous months that he would not be a candidate for the permanent athletic director position. However, Father Robert A. Wild, the school's president, said in a statement that "university and athletic officials recognized the valuable role Steve played."
"Steve's leadership, his administrative and legal experience, and his intense commitment to Marquette will help continue the upward trajectory we've seen in our athletic program," Wild said.
In a statement, Cottingham said that while he intended to return to his role as associate senior vice president at the school, "the support I received and my own experience led me to conclude that this was the right place for me to serve the university at this point in time."
As interim athletic director, Cottingham was involved in talks on a new television contract for men's and women's basketball games.
Marquette supports 14 Division I teams, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis and indoor and outdoor track, men's golf, and women's volleyballl.
Men's basketball coach Tom Crean called Cottingham "conscientious, committed and an exceptional leader. I have every confidence that he will continue to flourish and make our department even more respected nationally."
Marquette had launched a national search to replace Cords, who came to the university in 1987. Internally, deputy athletic director Mike Broeker and George Koonce, senior associate athletic director, had applied for the job.
This afternoon, Cottingham was scheduled to meet with coaches, athletic staff members and athletes to tell them of the appointment.
Cottingham will take over a program that still places a heavy emphasis on men's basketball, but is making efforts to raise the profile of other sports on campus. As athletic director, Cords was instrumental in moving Marquette to the Big East Conference. The move not only gave the men's basketball program a higher profile nationally, it allowed the other sports at Marquette to compete in a nationally recognized conference.
http://blogs.jsonline.com/muhoops/archive/2008/02/21/cottingham-named-mu-athletic-director.aspx
