UCF tomorrow will introduce Danny White as the school's new AD following a national search that "spanned about a month," according to sources cited by Bianchi & Green of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. White, who has served as Univ. at Buffalo AD the past three years, was "one of three finalists to interview for the job in Chicago on Monday," along with Kentucky Deputy AD DeWayne Peevy and Texas A&M Deputy AD Marcy Girton. UCF since June has "seen a revolving door" of ADs, starting with Todd Stansbury, who left for the same position at Oregon State. Former football coach George O’Leary assumed the interim AD role before "stepping down in October." UCF Exec Senior Associate AD & CFO Brad Stricklin then "took over the interim AD role." With a new AD in place, school leaders can "aggressively work to fill some of the remaining leadership vacancies and push along some key projects like the completion of the student leadership center, renovation to the baseball field and opening of a new tennis facility." But the "No. 1 priority for White ... will be hiring a football coach" to replace O'Leary. White’s background showed UCF administrators that he has "had some success generating fan interest and donor support at a school with less resources" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 11/18). In Orlando, Mike Bianchi in a front-page piece writes UCF "got it right" by hiring White. Several people familiar with the college AD scene "laud UCF's hiring of White." Florida AD Jeremy Foley called White a "rising star" in college athletics. Others said that White is a "charismatic leader who has a bold vision and demands excellence." Bianchi writes unlike the other two candidates who were finalists, White has "already sat in the big-boy chair." White, the son of Duke AD Kevin White, has "extensive ties to the inner circles of big-time college athletics" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 11/18).
LEAVING HIS MARK: In Buffalo, Mark Gaughan writes White "worked hard to raise expectations for the UB athletics program." He "made the most high-profile athletics hire in UB’s history by naming Bobby Hurley head men’s basketball coach" in '13. In Hurley's two seasons at UB, he "got the Bulls to their first-ever NCAA Tournament last March." White also "worked hard to market the UB teams better." The gameday experiences for football and men’s basketball "have been much improved, and attendance at men’s basketball, in particular, has risen sharply." White came up with the “New York Bulls Initiative,” which put “New York” on the front of UB uniforms. The initiative "aims to highlight the fact UB is the flagship university of the New York State system and it’s on a par in terms of its size and academic standing with the other biggest state universities in the country" (BUFFALO NEWS, 11/18).
