The incoming athletic director at Simon Fraser University says the school, which will become a full-fledged member of NCAA Division II next year, is a "sleeping giant" athletically.
Milt Richards, once the athletic director at Kansas State and for the last 12 years the athletic director at Division II California State University-Stanislaus, will be officially named to the vacant SFU post this week.
Richards, 53, a native of Liverpool, N.Y., admitted in a telephone interview with the Vancouver Sun on Monday that he has a lot to learn about Canadian culture and the culture at SFU, but he's excited "to make history at a great university."
"There's a lot of work to do and I have to learn Canada, but having said that, when I was 32 and left Temple University to go to Kansas, well that was a whole different world I wasn't quite aware of."
Richards was alerted to the SFU opening by Clan men's basketball coach James Blake, who himself moved from CSU last season. He said he and his wife, Amy, have been heavily involved in the community in Turlock, Calif., and it was a difficult decision to leave CSU after 13 years. "But we're ready for the next chapter," he said. "The opportunity to be involved with the first international school to become a full member of the NCAA, that's exciting.
Before joining CSU Stanislaus, Richards served as the athletic director at the State University of New York at Albany while that school was moving from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division I. "I'm kind of like the turnaround person in athletics, someone who takes a good program and makes it a lot better," said Richards.
SFU has been without an athletics director since Dr. David Murphy left in the spring when his three-year contract ran out. Murphy presided over SFU's move out of Canadian Interuniversity Sport and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to the NCAA.
Clan teams are competing in Division II on a provisional basis this season and are not eligible for national championships.
Richards said he will spend the first six to eight months sitting down with SFU's coaches and those involved in recreation to see what they need, whether it's increased funding for scholarships, better facilities or more resources.
One issue sure to be in the forefront is the desire of the football and soccer programs to get some kind of stadium on campus. Richards said he's not sure how things work at SFU, but noted that CSU Stanislaus instituted a student levy that helped raise money to build a $16-million stadium on campus for soccer and track and field.
Richards acknowledged that student fan support for athletics at SFU doesn't match that of many American universities. But he has some ideas about how to spice up game presentation with music, giveaways and other activities that would get students more involved.
"I need to listen and learn, but I know how to run an athletics program. I've worked at every level."
