Lew Perkins appears to be a good choice to lead the Kansas University Athletic Department.
Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway and acting Athletic Director Drue Jennings are to be congratulated for the selection of Lew Perkins as the 13th full-time director of the Jayhawk athletics program.
The search process was conducted in a relatively short time. Hemenway and Jennings had said they planned to name an athletic director by July 1, and they were able to maintain tight confidentiality during the search process. Based on initial impressions, they selected a well-qualified individual to move into this important position.
Perkins is no stranger to Kansas, having served four years as athletic director at Wichita State University in the 1980s. He knows the people of the state and what his challenges will be. He is recognized by his peers as one of the best, and his immediate past record at the University of Connecticut is excellent.
As Jennings has pointed out on numerous occasions, being an athletic director is a tough, demanding career. It is not a 9-to-5, five-days-a-week job interspersed with golf games, junkets and ego-building activities. Jennings has done a superb job in his temporary role as acting athletic director and has set an excellent example in the past several months. He said the person moving into the KU position must be ready to work many hours every day of the week.
Perkins quickly made it clear he will be in control of the athletic department. He will work hard and set an example for others to follow. He has said there will be changes in the personnel at Allen Fieldhouse if there are those who don’t measure up. He intends to improve the entire athletic program at KU, not just football and basketball. He and Jennings have said that each and every student athlete at KU should believe his or her team has a chance to be a winner and challenge for a title.
Perkins does not have an ego, and he will not try to position himself ahead of his coaches. He will crisscross the state to sell the school’s athletic program as well as the entire university. One of the main weaknesses of KU is that it does not do a good job of telling its story, and Perkins will be of immediate help in this department.
The past year or so has been an emotional, sometimes ugly period for the KU athletic department with the unfortunate scene surrounding former athletic director Al Bohl, the loss of one of America’s finest college basketball coaches in Roy Williams, the selection of the highly successful and personable Bill Self to carry on the tradition of basketball excellence and, now, the selection of Perkins to take over the helm of the school’s athletic program. Football coach Mark Mangino has been working with limited support in his first 18 months at KU, and most knowledgeable observers are confident he, with Perkins help, will be able to turn the KU football program around and produce a winning record.
KU alumni, fans and friends have reason to believe the school’s athletic department is in good hands and that better days are ahead for KU sports programs.
Multimedia coverage of Lew Perkins’ press conference
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