INDIANAPOLIS - Ball State University's new Director of Intercollegiate Athletics wants to ensure the department represents itself with class and dignity.
"We're going to win the right way, and we're going to do it regularly," Tom Collins said at a press conference on Saturday morning at the Westin Hotel.
Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora spent more than two months looking for former Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham's replacement. After interviewing nine candidates, she felt Collins was the best choice for Ball State University.
"We were looking for someone who would bring us to the next level - who had experiences in a very strong conference, in a very strong school that would bring to us expertise that we currently didn't have on staff that would broaden our horizons," Gora said. "I was looking for somebody with that same kind of drive and energy, and also a vision of what we could be. And I felt that [Collins] really fit that bill."
He was the senior associate athletic director at Arizona State University the past five years. He spent 20 years with the Sun Devils. He worked for Arizona State in various capacities in those 20 years, having previously been an assistant and associate athletic director. Before moving to Arizona State, he was an assistant athletic director at the University of Miami from 1983 to 1985.
The Academic Progress Rate, which looked at data from the 2003-04 academic year, rates the progress and maintained eligibility of student athletes at NCAA institutions. Ball State's score of 983 was fourth among Division I-A schools, behind Navy (980), Miami (Ohio) (986) and Duke (984). Ball State and Miami were the only two public institutions in the top 10. Collins said he wants to maintain the scholastic standard previously set forth.
"Ball State has everything that I want," Collins said. "It's a wonderful academic institution. I think you have all the right resources here with the APR. I'm looking forward to advance all the missions we have here at Ball State University."
Gora said Collins fit the type of candidate they were looking for.
"He had more energy, more enthusiasm, more great ideas than any of the other candidates," Gora said. "He had also done his homework. He knew more about the university and more about the [Mid-American Conference] peers than any other candidate. When we asked him questions, he was able to give very specific answers about what he would do and what he thought were ways that we could improve. I was just very impressed with him from the beginning."
Collins will be formally introduced to Ball State students and fans on New Year's Eve, when the men's basketball team plays host to Indiana University. He will begin full-time Jan. 9.
One of Collins' main goals is to take all Ball State sports to the next level.
"I want to see the teams compete, and I want to see MAC championships," Collins said. "I think Ball State is ready to explode. I think they're in the right conference. If there aren't the necessary resources [for our coaches], it is my job to go out and find them. What is it that is preventing us from winning a few more championships? As soon as we can figure out how to do that, that would be good."
Collins said he hopes his experience at Arizona State will give him some ideas on how to get Ball State students at all sporting events.
"It'd probably help with some ideas to increase attendance in men's basketball, women's basketball, football, baseball. I want to look at those things and see what we've done creatively at Arizona State and try those things over here and see if we can generate a great home court advantage and a great winning advantage for our student-athletes."
Collins, who is originally from Aurora, Ill., said Ball State is a perfect fit for him.
"I've worked with many facets of the athletic department." Collins said. "I think I just bring a breath of experience, and I think that my skill sets match up to what Ball State was looking for at this time. Ball State has many things that I aspire. They are a great academic institution and have an outstanding faculty and staff that want to see this thing work. I'm really excited to work with President Gora."
Arguably Cunningham's biggest project was raising the $13.6 million for the renovation of Scheumann Stadium. Collins said he can't wait to look at the plans and to make his own contributions.
"That's something that I'll have to sit down and talk with the president about," Collins said. "I want to see the plans to see what other revenue opportunities we may have on game days. I want to get in [the renovation], and that's why I'm coming next week. I want to jump in, and I want to see what that is. And then I need to meet with the president to make sure that I understand clearly and see what the priorities are. We all work together to make sure we're doing the right thing."
This year, Ball State played a difficult pre-conference schedule against Iowa, Auburn and Boston College, losing all three games by a combined score of 157 to three. The Cardinals' athletic department received more than $1 million to play those three teams. Next year, the football team will travel to Purdue and to the "Big House" to play Michigan. Collins said in the future there will be more balance in the scheduling.
"I don't think you want to just rely on a big payday, and I'm not sure that's fair for student-athletes," Collins said. "I think that to give them an experience at Michigan, it's great, but another thing you try to do is prepare your teams for the MAC. Play some similar teams that they can have some success at and generate some momentum. So as they get into the MAC, they can take off and be competitive. That's going to be a university scheduling philosophy that we'll sit down with the president and talk about what we need to do in the future."
Collins was a finalist for a number of AD jobs recently, including Middle Tennessee and Illinois State universities and the University of Montana. He was also being considered for an opening at the University of Akron.
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