Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

AD candidate: Making early connections important

PORTALES - Tony Hoops knows taking the athletic director position at Eastern New Mexico University would be a difficult job, in some ways different and some ways similar to the rebuilding job he took on at alma mater Bethel College five years ago.

But he recalled the feeling when Bethel finished dead last in the 2016 Kansas College Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup standings with 38.5 points, 101 behind first place Friends University. And that made this year, when Bethel scored a school-record 112.5 points, so much sweeter.

"If success was already established," Hoops said, "the journey wouldn't be as much fun."

Hoops spoke Wednesday at Greyhound Arena on his background and a philosophy to create good processes and experiences and not fixate on final results you often can't control. He was the fourth and final candidate to make an on-campus visit. Other candidates are former University of New Mexico men's basketball coach Paul Weir, Pittsburg State Senior Associate AD Nate Davis and Upper Iowa University Associate AD Brock Wissmiller.

Search committee chair Dustin Seifert said the hiring decision will be made by Chancellor Patrice Caldwell, with the committee providing strengths and weaknesses based on public input. Caldwell told ENMU regents Saturday she planned to speak with coaches and Greyhound Club members Thursday, and could make a decision in the coming days.

Hoops said he is in no rush to leave Bethel, where he's more than established himself as a former player and coach before entering the administrative side. But he sees ENMU as a great opportunity with its place in Division II and a Portales community where he and his wife cain raise their two children. He grew up on a Nebraska farm about 90 minutes from Lincoln, and said the drive from Lubbock to Portales felt like a familiar experience.

Were he to receive the job, Hoops said his first 30 to 60 days would be about establishing connections and later noted, "you can't delegate relationships." Like other candidates, he felt having an outlined plan from Day 1 would be a mistake because, "what I may think needs to occur could be totally wrong."

While he would have at least five coaches making their ENMU debuts in 2021-22, Hoops noted that he hired nine coaches in his first six months as Bethel AD and the connections he made with those coaches and existing staff helped lay a foundation for success.

"I did both (men's basketball and athletic director duties) for six months," Hoops said. "It was miserable. I came home every night feeling like I'd failed at two jobs. I had to rely on our coaches and staff heavily. I think that was the best thing I could have done, because they invested in the culture."

At Bethel, Hoops said he tries to be intentional about meetings so there isn't "the meeting after the meeting." The current schedule includes a staff meeting every other Tuesday, Feedback Fridays and a monthly professional development, with each fitting a specific purpose without wasting anybody's time.

When asked for his philosophy, Hoops focused on recruiting, retaining and development and a main purpose of "creating life-changing experiences for student-athletes" and giving community members a great experience at athletic events that isn't wholly dependent on wins or losses.

"You cannot control an end result," Hoops said. "There are too many variables."