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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
PROFILE
PERKINSTURNSATHLETICSAROUND
Athletics director Lew Perkins has given the Athletics Department a new attitude since his arrival in 2003. He became AD in June 2003 and has nearly doubled the athletic budget from $27.2 million in his first year to almost $500 million this year.
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
BY DREW DAVISON
Sitting in a spacious office on the second floor of the Wagon Center, just west of Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins has what many students would consider a dream job.
With a flat screen TV and numerous athletic awards displayed, Perkins sat in his office three years ago ready to begin his term as Kansas' Director of Athletics.
Before his first day was over, interim Athletics Director Drue Jennings came in with bad news.
"Lew, I think we have some NCAA violations," he said.
But when Perkins took the job, he was told that everything was fine.
"Then when I looked at the financial situation here and I saw how poorly we were doing, I said, 'Whoa, the whole infrastructure of the athletics department is a disaster' I mean not good, not bad, I mean a disaster,' Perkins said.
KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway realized the athletics department was digging itself a hole and knew he needed to make a change.
"Lew likes challenges," Hemenway said, "and there were a lot of challenges here that were worthy of a person like Lew, who is one of the best athletes directors in the country."
Since becoming AD in June 2003, Perkins has increased fundraising, created a five-year strategic plan and experienced on-the-field success. Perkins speaks in depth about the NCAA violations, his fundraising tactics, Mark Mangino, being an athletic director and his life away from the job. The people who work for Perkins like him as he puts them on the fast track for success, but some of his decisions came with controversy. Perkins is OK without being loved, as long as, when it is all said and done, he gets respect.
Perkins said he once thought he would stay at UConn for the rest of his career, where he worked for 13 years before coming to Kansas. Only a few universities could tempt him to leave, he said. Other than Kansas, his alma mater Iowa and South Carolina—the birthplace of his two daughters and where he has a home—would have interested him.
He said he liked Kansas because it gave him "an opportunity to mold another athletic program." He was also impressed with Hemenway.
Perkins said the Athletics Department had been poorly managed for 10 years before he arrived, and it did not handle the move from the Big Fight to the Big I2 very well.
In his short three-year tenure, Kansas has succeeded both on and off the field. Consistent success was something only the men's basket ball team experienced before Perkins arrived
The baseball and softball teams won Big 12 tournament championships last season. Since Perkins arrival, the volleyball team has made three consecutive NCAA tournaments for the first time ever.
Volleyball coach Ray Bechard said, "His our good luck charm. I don't think there is any coincidence because he has made our job easier by the support he has given us."
The football team has made two bowl appearances and earned bowl eligibility, one
additional time under Perkins. Perkins said he was pleased with the job by football coach Mark Mangino, who signed a five-year deal before this season for a yearly salary of $1.5 million. By increasing coaches salaries, Perkins has avoided dealing with agents.
"I don't deal with agents myself. I deal with the coaches," Perkins said, who earns $520,000 with a possible $25,000 incentive bonus. He said Mangino — represented by Cleveland-based NC Sports — and he personally negotiated a deal.
Perkins said Mangino's weight was not an issue to him.
"First of all, I think that is such a personal issue," he said. "The only concern I have for the weight issue is health. That is a personal thing and I don't get involved with that at all. I look at him as a football coach and as a nice guy."
On the field, Mangino has built a competitive program after the losing years under Terry Allen. Perkins thinks, outside of basketball, the athletic teams suffered because Kansas moved from the Big Eight to the Big 12 with no business or strategic plan.
"They were just doing it by the seam of their pants." Perkins said, "and that's not the way you run an athletic program."
Perkins faced a similar situation when he was hired at Connecticut. UConn joined the Big East four years prior to Perkins' arrival, and similar to Kansas, it was not well prepared to make the jump.
"I had to change the whole mentality of the department," Perkins said. "We sat down and developed a strategic plan."
He blamed the lack of planning for the NCAA violations that he found and reported
when he arrived.
"All of that stuff happened before I came here, and I recognized that right away," he said. "We have this policy now. Ask before you do anything." And, to me, it is education, education, education, education, education.
Perkins said he could not guarantee all of KU's athletic problems would go away, but he would make sure his staff understood the difference between right and wrong.
"Are we perfect, make every decision right?" Perkins asked. "No, but I think our percentages are pretty high."
Perkins said he hoped to put the "swagger" back in Kansas, creating a five year strategic plan during his first year titled "Unparalled Excellence" that aims at a top 25 ranking in The Directors Cup, a poll compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
The Cup is awarded to the top universities that are competitive in both men's and women's sports. Every Division I school has an opportunity to earn points based on how its respective teams do in their sports.
In order to attain these lofty goals, Perkins needed to increaseraising. Perkins admits Kansas will never have the athletic budgets of Texas, Oklahoma or Nebraska, but he said Kansas could be competitive. While some of his decisions have been controversial, he has nearly doubled the athletic budget from $27.2 million in his first year to nearly $50 million this year.
The first fundraising tactic was a priority seating plan for Allen Fieldhouse that bumped some long-time fans out of the best seats in favor of big time boosters.
"I think a lot of people who thought it was controversial, most of them were sitting in seats and not paying anything for those seats," he said.
Priority seating plans are commonplace nowadays. In the growing world of collegiate athletics, it is necessary to finance competitive teams. Perkins said.
"It was controversial at UConn too, but if you ask people in Connecticut today, they would think it was the best thing that could have happened," Perkins said.
Because decisions he makes can't please every KU fan, Perkins has a little saying: "I
SEE PERKINS ON PAGE 5B
LaHeilda Jacobs, freshman guard, runs down the court for a layup after stealing the ball in the first half of the game against South Dakota State Wednesday. The Jayhawks lost 53-48.
Anna Faltermeier/KANSAN
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
In the first few weeks of the season coach Bonnie Henrickson's message to her team was clear. She wanted to see more consistent production on the offensive end. Presumably, Kansas' abysmal offensive performance on Wednesday night was not what she had in mind.
If the Jayhawks' discouraging performance can be attributed to one thing, it would be the lack of a reliable post presence. Sophomore Marija Zimic was often outhustled by opponents and she finished with only six points on 2-for-6 shooting. Junior Taylor McIntosh avoided foul trouble but also avoided the basket, scoring only four points in 29 minutes of action.
Kansas shot only 36 percent in the 53-48 loss, its worst offensive performance of the season. The Kansas offense was especially ineffective during the first half. The Jayhawks trailed by 20 after a first half in which they shot only 26 percent.
Freshman stars can't eke out victory
BY ASHER FUSCO
Kohn and lacobs were relentless on defense and very assertive on offense. The two guards combined for nine steals and nearly two-thirds of the team's points.
"We had no presence in the post," said Henrickson. "We weren't missing three-pointers, we were missing our shots in the paint."
The Kansas guards did all they could to do make up for their taller teammates' shortcomings, Freshmen LaChelda Jacobs and Kelly Kohn provided a spark for the Jayhawks, spurring a 28-8 run that lasted for much of the second half.
"In the first half it seemed like we were laying down," said lacobs. "We came out in
The best efforts of Kohn and Jacobs were not enough to push Kansas to victory. The jackrabbits star, senior Megan Vogel, overcame a three-inch height disadvantage to grab 12 rebounds, four more than McIntosh and Zinc accumulated combined.
As the season progresses and conference play begins, Kansas will be faced with bigger and stronger opponents. If the layhawks can't learn to control the paint, they may find victories hard to come by.
Kansas gave up on feeding the ball to its ineffective post players during the second half, instead relying on Kohn's heroes from beyond the three-point arc and Jacobs' intense pressure on the defensive end to pull to a 45-45 tie with 2.53 remaining.
"The entire first half we just lacked intensity" Herrickson said.
In total, the starting Kansas frontcourt was outscored 11 to 21 by its opponents from South Dakota State. During an ugly first half, rebounds were routinely ripped from Zinic's hands and passes intended for McIntosh frequently bounced harmlessly out of bounds.
Kansan sportswriter Asher Fusco can be contacted at afsuc@kansan.com.
Edited by Patrick Ross
》 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Stellar second half isn't enough for victory
the second half and just kept fighting."
BY CASE KEEFER
Down 20 points at halftime, it seemed things couldn't get much worse for Kansas. There was almost a comeback victory, however, in Wednesday's 53-48 loss to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, thanks to sensational play in the second half by freshman guards
Kelly Kohn and LaChelda Jacobs.
"Not that there are dark alleyes in Lawrence, but I'd take these two with me if I got stuck in one" coach Bonnie Henrickson said.
Kohn and jacobs scored 33 of the teams' 48 points and had nine of the teams' 14 steals.
In what is becoming common practice,
Kohn stepped up to provide the much-needed offensive spark in the second half. In the first five minutes, she scored seven points.
"That's just always been my mentality," she said. "I'm going to do whatever the team needs me to do."
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 5B
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