Luck leaving West Virginia for newly created post with NCAA

West Virginia athletics director Oliver Luck, pictured during a basketball exhibition game in November, is leaving the school for a position at the NCAA.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Athletics director Oliver Luck plans to leave West Virginia for a newly created leadership position at the NCAA, closing a four-year chapter in which he explored new revenue channels, steered the Mountaineers into a Power 5 conference and made head coaching moves in several sports.

“It has been a tremendous honor to serve my alma mater as director of athletics,” Luck said in a release. “As those who have spent time in West Virginia know, this is truly a special place. It’s been an incredible experience for me to work with some of the best administrators, faculty, coaches, staff, student-athletes, fans, media and alumni in the nation.”

A former Mountaineers quarterback who returned to West Virginia in June 2010, Luck was at one time a leading candidate for the Texas AD job that went to Steve Patterson last year. He now will become the NCAA’s executive vice president of regulatory affairs.

From his new position in Indianapolis, Luck will work with NCAA president Mark Emmert during what he called “a time of fundamental change” for the organization, whose enforcement power has been gutted by seven key staff defections within the past 18 months. The move also provides Luck an opportunity to be closer to his son Andrew, who plays quarterback for the Colts.

Luck’s tenure saw West Virginia join the Big 12 Conference in the spring of 2012, an odd geographic fit that nonetheless was a welcomed rescue from the crumbling Big East. Realignment has meant record revenue for West Virginia athletics as the school’s initiation period builds toward a complete Big 12 share.

The 54-year-old Luck served on the inaugural College Football Playoff selection committee this season, a three-year appointment that means the Big 12 must choose another AD to fill his vacancy.

WVU’s Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director Keli Cunningham, a native of Petersburg, began serving as interim athletics director immediately and will do so as the search takes place.

A member of the WVU sports hall of fame, Luck had been on the job as AD barely six months in December 2010 when he rattled the football program by hiring coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen from Oklahoma State a Bill Stewart’s successor. That uncomfortable arrangement preceded Stewart’s firing the following summer.

Luck elevated basketball coach Bob Huggins to the $3-million salary club with a contract extension through 2023.

In 2012, Luck fired baseball coach Greg Van Zant after 18 seasons and brought in Randy Mazey, who twice has led West Virginia to the brink of an NCAA regional bid. Last March, Luck removed wrestling coach Craig Turnbull after 36 seasons and hired Sammy Henson.

In April, Luck announced $106 million worth of renovation projects aimed at keeping West Virginia’s facilities competitive. That package began with the new 150-seat football team room that’s soon to be completed, and will subsequently include an expansion of the concourses at Milan Puskar Stadium. The yet-to-be designed third phase would remodel parts of the WVU Coliseum.

Luck coordinated with Monongalia County officials, state legislators and developers on a tax-financed $21 million ballpark—slated to open next spring—that will serve as the new home for Mountaineers baseball and a New York-Penn rookie-league team.

He also oversaw a re-seating campaign for basketball season ticketholders aimed at rewarding more lucrative donors.

Luck also sought to boost revenue by outsourcing WVU’s third-tier media rights. That ultimately led to an $80-million, 12-year contract with IMG, though Luck made missteps along the way and was removed from the bidding process upon review by the state’s attorney general. Luck remains a defendant in an ongoing lawsuit filed by West Virginia Radio Corp. (the parent company of MetroNews) alleging fraud and collusion between the AD, West Virginia Media and IMG. Depositions are ongoing in the lawsuit.

WVU president Gordon Gee issued a statement regarding Luck’s departure:

“Oliver has a storied history with West Virginia University. From his days as an outstanding student-athlete where he led us to great victories on the gridiron, to his service as a member of our Board of Governors, to his role in advancing our athletic programs and the life of the student-athlete, he has always embodied the Mountaineer spirit of perseverance and success. Indeed, his leadership has changed the face of WVU athletics, and I thank him for his dedicated efforts.”

Luck’s start date with the NCAA is scheduled for Jan. 15.

“We plan to move swiftly to find the best fit in a new athletic director to lead our programs, coaches and student-athletes into a new era of Mountaineer athletics,” Gee said.





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