June 19, 2008
ASU athletics experiencing more than just wins
by Scott Bordow, East Valley Tribune (April 6, 2008)
Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love is on the phone and talking fast. Every third word out of her mouth is a superlative.
Incredible. Awesome. Marvelous. Exciting.
She even throws a gosh into the conversation.
From a woman who usually is so careful with her pronouncements, Love's enthusiasm is palpable.
And with good reason.
These are heady times for the ASU athletic department.
The marquee programs -- football, men's and women's basketball, baseball -- are thriving, donations are on the rise, and the Sun Devils currently rank eighth in the Director's Cup standings, which measure the overall success of the athletic programs.
"We've been having a very exciting year," Love said. "What's happened has been absolutely rewarding, no doubt about it."
This is what Love envisioned when she was named AD in April of 2005. Then, she often called ASU a sleeping giant that had yet to fully tap its athletic potential and financial resources.
Her comments were met with skepticism -- many an AD before her had said the same thing -- but three years later she has proven to be a prophet.
The success of ASU's athletic programs has spawned a considerable hike in giving.
Stephen Ponder, senior associate athletic director of the Sun Devil Club, said that in the past two years, the number of donors has grown by 1,286 to 9,386 and total fundraising has increased from $10.2 million to $15 million.
In addition, Ponder said, $26.6 million has been pledged in the past 14 months for the $32 million needed to build the indoor football practice facility and the Weatherup Center, a 30,000-square-foot facility that will house the men's and women's basketball teams.
"We have not only coaches doing great work and athletes doing great work, but a lot of donors making a difference with their financial muscle," Love said. "That's going to allow us to sustain it."
It's no coincidence that donations have risen at the same time the football team has flourished since Dennis Erickson was hired and, to a lesser extent, the men's basketball team has prospered under Herb Sendek.
The two programs are the engines that drive athletic departments, both in the revenue they produce and the pockets they open.
"There's no question the success of the football team affects everything," Love said. "It certainly affects positive giving and generosity."
The athletic department's good health is not solely defined by numbers, though. ASU is receiving more national exposure than it has in the past -- thanks again to the success of the football and men's basketball programs -- and attendance and enthusiasm is on the rise across campus.
The ASU baseball team, for example, already has had two sellouts this year, for games against Arizona and USC. And the Sun Devils' postseason NIT game against Florida was played before the loudest and most raucous basketball crowd in years.
"There were points of the game you couldn't even hear the whistle because the audience was so awesome," Love said. "Our students have completely changed the atmosphere and energy at Wells Fargo Arena."
If anyone deserves to take a bow for the athletic department's renaissance, it's Love.
Her three biggest hires have been Erickson, Sendek and softball coach Clint Myers. All have been home runs -- Myers' club is currently ranked No. 1 in the country -- and considerable upgrades over their predecessors.
(Love believes she'll go 4-for-4 with her recent hiring of volleyball coach Jason Watson).
The hires helped Love win over an alumni base that was skeptical of her hiring.
Boosters weren't so worried that she didn't have prior experience running an athletic department. They were worried that ASU hired a woman who didn't have prior experience running an athletic department.
Today, those same alums are in love with Love.
"I don't know anybody who thinks we chose the wrong person," longtime booster Nap Lawrence said. "I think our athletic department right now is almost in the best shape it's ever been in. ...
"I'll be honest with you. I'd hate to be a mediocre coach over there right now. She's very tough."
By no means is Love's work done at ASU. Packard Stadium needs refurbishing -- it's embarrassing that the No. 1 team in the country plays in such an antiquated facility -- and Love has to make sure neither Erickson nor Sendek leave for other jobs.
But given the mess she inherited -- the football and men's basketball programs werestagnant, and the Loren Wade shooting had damaged the school's reputation -- it's remarkable that the athletic department is in the kind of shape it is today.
And Love believes this is only the beginning.
"I have a very strong belief of what this school is capable of," she said. "We're not anywhere near what I think we can be."