Illinois will hire D-III Washington Univ. AD Josh Whitman for the same role in Champaign, "ending a search that has stretched on for more than three months," according to sources cited by Asmussen & Daniels of the Champaign NEWS-GAZETTE. Whitman, "who is expected to be introduced" today, replaces interim AD Paul Kowalczyk, who was named to the position after Mike Thomas was fired in November. Whitman spent two years as AD at WashU. The 37-year-old was a tight end at UI from '97-'00. He "worked first as a coordinator of special projects" in the UI athletic department from '05-07 before he was named Assistant AD, where he "helped numerous parts of the athletic department's operations, including development, marketing and the renovation of Memorial Stadium." Whitman will "face a long list of tasks to handle right away." Questions "remain about the future" of the school's two main revenue sports, football and men's basketball, which "have struggled mightily this decade." There are also "facility questions facing Whitman," as Memorial Stadium "is due a major overhaul on the south and east stands." The problem will "be funding, with very little opportunity for new revenue-generating areas." UI baseball, coming off its best season in school history, also "needs a stadium upgrade" (Champaign NEWS-GAZETTE, 2/17).
NEXT IN LINE: Asmussen writes it is an "unconventional choice for an unconventional situation." Whitman brings UI what it "needs most right now: integrity, intelligence, energy, ability and a track record of success." Other candidates "were mentioned first," but in the "long run, Whitman will be the better pick" (Champaign NEWS-GAZETTE, 2/17). In Chicago, Steve Greenberg notes the "molasses-slow process" of finding a new AD frustrated many UI fans. But "none of that will ever matter again if Illinois got the right guy" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/17).
