Add the name of Wayne Hogan to the growing list of potential Kansas University athletics directors.
Hogan, 45, has spent the last six years presiding over the sports programs at Montana University.
Montana has been one of the top football teams in NCAA Div. I-AA football for more than a decade. The Grizzlies reached the I-AA title game last season before bowing to defending champ Georgia Southern, 27-25.
Since Hogan’s arrival at Montana, the football program has won 52 of 66 games, five Big Sky Conference Championships and appeared in the I-AA playoffs every year.
Average football attendance in Missoula has grown from 11,000 at his arrival to better than 18,000. Annual giving is up by more than $100,000 and corporate sponsorships have also seen a six-digit increase.
Hogan has overseen a $14.7 million facility project which has transformed the school’s antiquated basketball arena. Hogan went to Montana from Florida State, his alma mater, after spending 18 years in Tallahassee working in various athletics department capacities.
While Hogan’s name has surfaced, Maryland’s Deborah Yow has dropped out of the picture. Yow said she was contacted by Heidrick and Struggles Inc., the headhunting firm employed by KU, and told them she wasn’t interested.
KU is looking for a replacement for Bob Frederick, who resigned in May to become a teacher in KU’s School of Education. Frederick’s last official day is Saturday. It’s believed Mike Hamrick, East Carolina; Doug Woolard, Saint Louis; Kathleen DeBoer, Kentucky; and Allen Bohl, Fresno State will be interviewed, with Bohl, Hamrick and Woolard the likely front-runners.
