ENMU has four finalists for athletic director position

The pool of finalist candidates to replace Jeff Geiser as Eastern New Mexico University’s athletic director has been set.

Jeff Long, ENMU’s Vice President of Student Affairs, and the head of the athletic director search committee, said there are four finalists who are expected to make campus visits over the next two weeks.

The candidates are:

• Phillip Roybal, vice president for student success for New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs.

• Kelley Kish, Nova Southeastern University’s associate director of athletics for sport administration, internal operations and compliance. The school is located in Plantation, Florida.

• Scott Street, athletic director at Lamar State College-Port Arthur in Texas.

• Greg Waggoner, owner of Rocky Mountain Consulting Services in Gunnison, Colorado.

President Steve Gamble, who will make the final decision on the hiring, said his first meeting will be with Roybal on Friday.

“I know the candidates by reputation,” Gamble said. “But nothing in detail.”

Geiser, who plans to retire July 1 after seven years at the school, did acknowledge he knows several of the finalists but declined to comment on any particular candidate.

“I think they’ve got four good candidates,” Geiser said. “The search committee has done a great job. I’m excited. Whoever sits in this chair will take Eastern athletics to a whole new level. It’s a great time to be coming in with the new stadium. Gamble is going to hire the right person.”