UTEP’s Wickstrom Not Chosen For Illinois State Athletics Director Job
Illinois State University has picked Gary Friedman as its next director of athletics. He beat out Jane Meyer at Iowa and Brian Wickstrom of the University of Texas at El Paso.
Wickstrom has been at UTEP for the last five years.
Friedman has worked as a senior associate athletic director at Louisville for 10 years.
WGLT Radio reports that he’ll take over the Redbirds program this summer. ISU announced his hiring Tuesday.
The Deerfield native is credited with leading facility improvements at Louisville. During his tenure as chief fundraiser, the Cardinal Athletic Fund saw a 200 percent growth. Friedman also is credited with developing a premium seating plan for what became the highest revenue-generating men’s basketball program in the country.
Friedman succeeds Sheahon Zenger, who left earlier this year for the AD job at Kansas.
Wickstrom, who was recently 2011 C-USA basketball championship director for the C-USA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in El Paso in March, has been a finalist for several athletics director jobs in the last few years.
He was a candidate for the University of Houston athletic director position in 2009 but lost out to Mack Rhoades, Akron’s then athletic director who also been an associate athletic director at UTEP. Also in 2009, Wickstrom was a finalist for the South Alabama and Marshall University athletics director jobs.
