Missouri AD Jim Sterk is still in his first year on the job, and while the school's sports programs have undergone "pivotal changes on his watch," Sterk has kept a "relatively low profile for such a public position," according to Dave Matter of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. In nine months, Sterk has "relaunched the new football team facility planned for the south side of Memorial Stadium" and raised close to $50M for its construction. He also has "hired an outbound ticket sales department aimed at aggressively growing Mizzou’s season ticket base," and his "fingerprints are all over the reboot of the men’s basketball program." Mizzou "finished the winter No. 15 in the Learfield Director Cup Standings," the school’s best previous finish having been No. 36 in '09. Sterk said, "We’re having what I call a very quiet, successful year. ... We’re not hitting on all cylinders yet. You’re never going to hit on all sports at once, but the two most public sports that get the most attention have been down." Sterk added that the new ticket sales branch and remodeled development staff is "focused on building more personal relationships with customers and donors." Also, Sterk is "working to assign a volunteer athletics representative in each of the 114 councils established in every Missouri county by the university’s extension office." Sterk wants his department to have an "open dialogue with alums in all corners of the state." To that end, he is continuing a "spring barnstorming tour of the state’s biggest markets to sell his remade department." Sterk: "We need to go out. That’s what I’ve heard. They want to see us and hear us. ... We have really, really good momentum. People in the state are starting to recognize that" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/14).
