Rebuilding Job ; One Year in, Redbird AD Zenger Sees Promise of Regaining Support

By Randy Kindred

NORMAL – Sheahon Zengers office at Redbird Arena has the essentials – desk, computer, phone, notepads, pens – and a wide range of books. Few people enjoy reading more than Illinois States athletics director.

What you will not find is a saw, a hammer, a box of nails. Yet, Zenger has been doing repair work just the same in his first year on the job.

Calling himself “an external A.D.,” Zenger has spent considerable time reaching out to the campus and the community since taking over on June 1, 2005, seeking to win back support for ISU athletics.

“A day doesnt go by, a week doesnt go by, and certainly a month doesnt go by, that Im not called upon to mend fences,” Zenger said. “I wont get into maybe how that all came to be, but in the first year its really been a fence-mending process quite a bit of the time.”

Zenger is encouraged by the results.

An annual fund drive completed recently generated $270,000 more than the previous year. He said it is the first yearly increase since 1999, and called that “a testament to the community.”

“I think theres a real interest here. I guess Id call it a lapsed interest, and I dont put that on the community. I put that back on the athletics department,” Zenger said.

“If I were a paid consultant and at the end of my term, I would tell (ISU) President (Al) Bowman – and I have – that somehow Illinois State athletics got itself on an island in the past, both on the campus and in the community. My job, my goal, is to get us off that island.”

Zenger likened it to having a mote around the department, with his mission to “put down as many bridges as I can and let everyone come back.”

“In 1999, Illinois State had 1,500 donors giving close to $1 million a year,” Zenger said. “When I took the job, they had 750 donors giving $500,000 a year. We hope that by tipoff of this basketball season well be somewhere between $800,000 and $900,000.”

Zenger credits Linda Herman, ISUs interim athletics director prior to his arrival, for paving the way for the improved fund- raising.

He said Herman “froze some positions” when people left the department, enabling Zenger to hire three employees in external operations: Randy Welniak, Aaron Leetch and Doug Banks.

“That is usually what coaches get to do,” Zenger said of the three hires. “A.D.s are normally lucky if they can bring in one.”

Zenger also praised Herman for helping unify the department following the firing of Perk Weisenburger in June 2004.

“When I took the job, the two main mandates as I perceived them were external outreach and to create harmony within the department,” Zenger said. “Linda had done a nice job with that, so I tried to pick up that ball and run with it.”

That has meant working to forge relationships with ISUs staff and coaches, and Zenger has been impressed with the response.

He points to the Redbirds improvement in the Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports standings as evidence. ISU finished third this year out of 10 Missouri Valley schools after placing fifth last year.

The All-Sports standings are determined by a point system based on where schools finish in each Missouri Valley sport.

“Im pleased with the quality of the staff and coaches that are here,” Zenger said. “It may be a silly analogy, but I kind of feel like I came into a garden that maybe hadnt been watered in awhile. With a little TLC, these people have flourished.”

Zenger gave similar high marks to ISUs 350 student-athletes.

Redbird athletes had a combined 2.99 grade-point average this spring, which Zenger said is ISUs best ever for the spring semester. They also conducted 2,300 hours of community service.

“Ive been at eight different colleges and universities, and Im not sure Ive seen one where they did even 300 hours of community service,” Zenger said. “To get a 2.99, and then put that kind of effort back into the community, is tremendous.

“I tell our coaches and staff, we are giving the community every reason to believe in our young people and support them, particularly in the climate of todays college athletics.”

Still, Zenger is aware of the bottom line for most potential fans/ donors.

They want to see a winner, and while he said third place in the All-Sports standings indicates “were coming,” there is ground to make up.

Prior to last year, ISU had won more All-Sports trophies than any other Missouri Valley school. Zenger is eager to get back to that level.

“I always say (to coaches/staff), We have to put a product on the court, the floor, the pool, the track, that people will want to come to, and thats what were working toward,” he said.

A key is mens basketball, ISUs highest profile sport and primary money maker.

The Redbirds were 9-19 in Coach Porter Mosers third season and averaged 5,409 fans for 15 home games, slightly more than half of Redbird Arenas 10,200-seat capacity.

Asked how important it is for basketball to thrive, Zenger said, laughing, “Im trying to think of the appropriate term huge!”

“I tell people we have two revenue sports – basketball and development,” he said. “Thats kind of a tongue-in-cheek comment, but we depend on basketball to bring in revenue.

“I know Porter over the last three to four years has been trying to reassemble a group that will stay put. Theres something I think special about these five recruits hes bringing in this year to connect with the guys who are already here. I think there are a number of individuals on this team that the community will be drawn to. I really see a couple of guys who people will get behind.”

It would be a positive step toward Zengers vision for the future of ISU athletics.

He and his staff have formulated a strategic plan that is laid out on the front and back of one laminated page. It is essentially a flip card similar to those used by coaches – a throwback to Zengers days as a football coach.

“This is not your 1975 strategic plan that people use as doorstops,” he said. “This is a game plan. We even called it that our Winning Game Plan.”

Zenger also has spearheaded production of a brochure titled “Redbird Renaissance,” which outlines a vision for $39 million worth of facilities improvements.

Included are plans for Hancock Stadium renovation, a new Redbird Field, the completion of Redbird Arena, renovation of the Redbird Softball Complex, a new tennis facility and a new golf learning and training center.

“I dont want people to be confused. This doesnt mean this is getting done next year,” Zenger said. “This means that as a department, we werent afraid to put our dreams and our hearts and our souls on paper and show our donors and fans and community members what can happen here.

“My job is to create the vision and then to go ask. In five years – now four – were going to know. Well know if people want that vision. People will vote with their pocketbooks. They do that in season tickets, in annual giving and in major gifts. The key to it all is not being afraid daring to go out and challenge people.”

Having been part of an impressive building process at Kansas State, as an assistant football coach and later associate athletics director, Zenger believes “anything is possible” at ISU.

He sees the recent hiring of ISU graduate Tracy Patkunas as director of sales as another step forward.

In aspiring to be Bloomington-Normals “Hometown Team,” Zenger felt it important to hire someone from the Twin Cities.

“For a year Ive had my eye open,” he said. “I found someone who I think is sort of a pied piper among her friends and a woman who was in the real estate business here. Her whole job is to go out and make seven touches a day with our sponsors.

“I am really, really excited about that. As much ground as we covered the first year in development, I want to cover that much in marketing and sponsorships and promotions this year.”

Zenger insists there is “no better opportunity than right now” to put ISU and Bloomington-Normal “on the national athletic map in a big way.”

“At the end of a year, some of the anxiety is gone because we have some answers,” he said. “The annual fund drive was a huge answer to us, that if theyre asked, this community will give and support and join in. Our job now is to not stop. Each year, we have to add to that.”———–Redbird RenaissanceEarly in his second year as Illinois State athletics director, Sheahon Zenger has laid out a vision for ISU athletics in a brochure entitled “Redbird Renaissance.” Included are the following facilities upgrades:Hancock Stadium renovation- Phase 1: $15 million- Phase 2: $10 million- Total cost: $25 millionRedbird Field- Total cost: $3.4 millionRedbird Arena completion project- Phase 1: completed- Phase 2: $1 million- Phase 3: $1.5 million- Phase 4: $750,000- Total cost: $3.25 millionTennis Facility- Total cost: $2.5 millionRedbird Softball Complex renovation- Total cost: $500,000Golf Learning & Training Center- Total cost: $350,000Scholarship endowments- Total cost: $1 millionTotal goal- $39 million

(c) 2006 Pantagraph. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.