ATHLETICS DIRECTOR SEARCH: Second candidate speaks on campus

About 10 people Tuesday listened to Norwood Teague, associate athletic director for marketing and promotions at the University of North Carolina, discuss his views about becoming VCU’s director of athletics in July.

“I have more of an external background,” Teague said, explaining one reason he is seeking the position. “My strengths are in marketing, fundraising and friend-raising – being a team person.”

Students, faculty and others can hear the third and final candidate, Jerry Baker, the athletic director at the College of Charleston in South Carolina at 10 a.m. Thursday in Virginia Room A of the University Student Commons.

Teague described his experience, which includes his having been associate athletic director for marketing and promotions at the University of North Carolina, general manager of the Sun Devil Sports Network at Arizona State University in Tempe, and director of basketball operations at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Teague’s visit to VCU fell on the same day as the announcement that VCU men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel had resigned to accept the head coaching assignment at the University of Oklahoma.

“I want to hire a coach who has integrity and character,” Teague said about the kind of coach he thinks VCU would need to replace Capel. “I want a coach that knows his X’s and O’s and is a great teacher and recruiter.”

Teague said he has learned the importance of a coach’s relentless hard work from legendary UNC men’s basketball coach, Roy Williams, whose overall record is 493-124 and has a 79.9 winning percentage, according to UNC’s Web Site.

During his talk on campus, Teague said he has been part of various fundraising and re-branding projects at UNC and has managed and coordinated media operations at Arizona State, including serving as the executive producer of multiple basketball and football telecasts on Fox Sports for ASU.

If given the opportunity, he said he hopes VCU would become “Richmond’s team” by focusing on a staff committed to fundraising.

“Five years from now, I want to look back and say, ‘Hey, we redefined our fundraising efforts within athletics. We have created a team of (different) kinds of people to raise some significant dollars to really put VCU on the map,” he said.

Contributor: Weston Reeves