The search for UALR's next athletic director is down to two senior athletic administrators at Conference USA schools and a former UALR staffer now serving as a medical school fundraiser.
On Monday, the school released its three finalists to replace Chris Peterson as its top athletic official, and all three will interview on campus over the next eight days with a possible offer being made before Christmas, interim athletic director Bob Denman said.
James Sarra, deputy director of athletics at Texas-San Antonio, will interview Thursday; Bill Lansden, senior associate athletic director for external relations at Alabama-Birmingham, will interview Monday; and Chasse Conque, senior director of development at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, will interview Dec. 17.
Denman, who serves on the 11-person selection committee, said the candidates having experience at heavily subsidized, metropolitan campuses was attractive to the committee. Conque, the son of former University of Central Arkansas football coach Clint Conque, earned his masters of business administration from UALR and was its director of athletic development in 2007-2011.
"They know the battles that they have fought at their respective institutions, and they know that we'll have similar challenges here," Denman said. "Someone who is coming from UCLA, that's a different world. They've been through the battles of being the metropolitan institution in a big system."
Denman said each finalist's schedule interview will start at 8 a.m and wrap up at 5 p.m. All three will meet with the selection committee, with Denman individually and also with Chancellor Joel E. Anderson individually. They'll also take a campus tour, meet with UALR coaches and close with a session with the Trojan Advisory Council.
"They'll be given the opportunity to address the larger group and talk about why they think they're the right fit and what their vision is for Trojan athletics would be," Denman said.
A topic surely to be discussed is fundraising. UALR operated with an $8.58 million budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year, according to United States Department of Education figures, a total that is behind most non-football playing, metropolitan schools that are part of state systems like Texas-Arlington, Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska-Omaha and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. According to a USA Today database, 65 percent of UALR's athletic budget came from subsidies.
According to his resume, Conque has helped raise more than $16 million at UAMS, including $6.3 million in 2012-2013. While at UALR, he helped launch SpectacUALR, the athletic department's biggest fundraising event that raised $186,000 in 2009 and $196,000 in 2010.
"We all know Chasse," Denman said. "He started with us. He kind of grew up with us. He knows the community and he knows the players."
Sarra, who has also worked at Maryland, Washington State, Portland State, TCU, Ball State, Northwestern and St. Bonaventure, arrived at Texas-San Antonio in 2005 as assistant director of athletics for compliance. He has held six positions at UTSA, including two positions in external affairs and directing the Roadrunners Athletics Fund.
Lansden was associate athletic director for athletics development at Memphis in 2004-2013 before arriving at Alabama-Birmingham in 2013, where his resume touts he directs a $25 million capital campaign.
Denman said the committee will meet Dec. 18 or Dec. 19 to discuss the interviews, and then will make a recommendation to Anderson with an offer possibly being made before Christmas.
Ron Prettyman, athletic director at Indiana State, was interviewed by phone recently, but Denman said he pulled himself out of consideration.
Sports on 12/09/2014