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WRIGHT STATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR SEARCH
Texas Tech's Downing has deep basketball history, says WSU job is 'a natural'
Saturday, May 10, 2008
After winning an Indiana state basketball championship, being named the MVP of the Big Ten while playing at Indiana and participating in an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics, Steve Downing returned to Indiana in 1978.
"Coach (Bob) Knight actually wanted to hire me as an assistant coach," Downing said. "Basketball had been all my life, and I wanted to try to do something different. I always felt I could go back to coaching if, in fact, it didn't work out for me in another field. I just wanted to do something other than bounce a basketball."
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The opportunity came in athletics administration. Downing became an assistant athletic director at IU and has worked the administrative side ever since, moving with Knight in 2001 to Texas Tech, where he is a senior associate director of athletics. This month, he will interview for the athletic director position at Wright State.
"It has always been my goal to be the athletic director at a Division I school," Downing said. "I'm familiar with Wright State and some of the things they've done. I just think it's a natural. We could continue to grow the program."
Downing, an Indiana native, said that while returning to the Midwest was a consideration, "I wanted to be involved in a place where winning was important, like at Texas Tech and Indiana. Wright State is in a great conference, they've done some good things and graduated kids. The commitment is there for the student-athlete concept, athletics and academics. I think it would be a great opportunity if I were to get the job."
Downing said it doesn't matter that Wright State is in the middle of Big Ten country and that there are several other schools in the state that compete at the Division I level.
"Bigger is not necessarily better," Downing said. "Money does not guarantee success. In our conference (the Big 12) for example, we're like midway. We don't have the budgets of Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, but we've done some very good things here. We have very good coaches who maximize the potential of their talent."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Steve Downing profile
Age: 57
Education: B.S. in health physical education and recreation, Indiana University, 1973; M.S. in counseling and guidance, Indiana, 1977.
Experience: Pro basketball player, Boston Celtics, 1973-75; academic counselor, IUPUI, 1978-79; associate athletic director, Indiana, 1979-2001; senior associate director of athletics, Texas Tech, 2001-present.
Highlights: At Indiana, administrator for men's basketball, baseball, men's tennis, women's soccer and men's and women's track; fundraiser for athletic department. At Texas Tech, responsible for $37 million annual budget, administrator for 11 varsity sports, including football and men's basketball as well as sports medicine and strength and conditioning programs; chaired 2001 Alamo Bowl and 2002 Tangerine Bowl committees.
Honors: Member of Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame.
