Aug. 1, 2017

Greg McElroy, Arizona State athletics associate vice president and chief development officer, is retiring effective Sept. 15. 

McElroy has been with ASU since May 2014, working on revenue generation and marketing including naming rights options for renovated Sun Devil Stadium.

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McElroy has worked for a variety of professional teams since the early 1990s including the Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys. He was the lead negotiator for naming right of the new Cowboys Stadium, sold to AT&T.

Under McElroy, ASU became the first Pac-12 athletic department to manage its own multimedia rights rather than work through a third party such as IMG College. The Pac-12 MMR was created to assist in that transition for any member schools. 

The position is not expected to be filled because of expansion of ASU athletics senior staff. 

Rocky Harris (ASU athletics chief operating officer), Frank Ferrara (chief financial officer), Becky Parke (associate athletic director) among others will absorb McElroy’s duties. Daniel Dillon, ASU senior vice president/chief marketing officer, also will help with the stadium naming rights deal. 

ASU hopes to have a naming-rights partner for the stadium within two years. The final phase of stadium renovation, rebuilding the east side, will begin immediately after the 2017 season. ASU closes the season at home on Nov. 25 against Arizona.

ASU athletics enters agreement with Ticketmaster

July 31, 2017

Arizona State athletics is teaming with Ticketmaster as its primary ticketing source.

The multi-year agreement, announced Monday, includes all ASU home athletic events.

Fans can purchase tickets from Ticketmaster or the ASU box office as well as use their phones to control their account and use the e-ticketing feature, similar to concert tickets, to gain admission to games.

ASU will be one of the first universities to offer Ticketmaster’s AccountManager tool.

“We strive to be pioneers in all aspects of our athletic department,” ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson said. “Our new partnership with Ticketmaster exemplifies that vision as we recognize the seamless and advanced experience Ticketmaster provides to our fans when it comes to purchasing tickets to our events.”

Then ASU student Albert Leffler and ASU alum Peter Gadwa were among the Ticketmaster founders in 1976. Ticketmaster became ASU’s ticketing partner for Gammage Center in 1999.

“ASU is one of two Pac 12 schools who have made the move to Ticketmaster this past year, yet another Power Five school choosing to utilize our services to empower their ticketing, fundraising, and marketing efforts,” said Greg Economou, Ticketmaster chief commercial officer and head of sports. “Ticketsmaster was founded on the campus of ASU so we’re extremely proud of this meaningful and robust partnership.”

Veteran head coach joins ASU women’s basketball staff

July 25, 2017

Veteran head coach Terri Mitchell is joining the Arizona State women’s basketball staff as a special assistant to head coach Charli Turner Thorne.

The new position is yet another change in Turner Thorne’s staff. She already has added two new assistant coaches, Briann January and Angie Nelp, to replace Amanda Levens, now head coach at Nevada, and Meg Sanders. Jackie Moore is returning in a new position as associate head coach.

Mitchell was 348-215 in 18 seasons at Marquette, where she coached through 2013-14. Her teams made seven NCAA Tournament appearances and eight in the WNIT, which Marquette won in 2008. 

Mitchell, 50, was Conference USA Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2000 and Big East Coach of the Year in 2007. She began her coaching career as an ASU graduate assistant in 1989.

“Terri is going to add incredible value to our program in so many ways,” Turner Thorne said. “Her experience as a successful head coach at the highest level combined with her outstanding skill set will make her an invaluable voice on our staff. 

“I want to thank Ray Anderson and our entire administration for their incredible support in allowing us to create this new position.”

Mitchell said, “Charli’s commitment to excellence on and off the court shines through in both word and action. It is why ASU women’s basketball is known as one of the top programs in the nation. I’m excited to start working with Charli, her tremendous staff and the dedicated student-athletes on the team.”

ASU promotes Jeremy Rasmussen to head cross country coach

July 19, 2017

Jeremy Rasmussen is Arizona State’s new head cross country coach, earning a promotion from assistant to replace Louie Quintana.

Quintana was named Oregon State head women’s track and cross country coach Monday.

Rasmussen is ASU’s eighth men’s and sixth women’s cross country coach. He is the first former Sun Devil runner to lead the program. Announcement of his elevation was made Wednesday. 

Rasmussen helped the cross country team qualify for the 1999 NCAA Championships and finish 14th. In track, he was Pac-10 steeplechase champion in 2000 and runner-up in 2001 and 2002. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from ASU.

“Jeremy is the true meaning of a Sun Devil,” track coach Greg Kraft said. “He walked on to our program and became a Pac-10 champion. Jeremy has held every title imaginable in our program. He has attacked each and every role with the single intention on how to make our program better.”

Rasmussen was an ASU graduate assistant in 2003-04 then volunteer assistant from 2004-06. He was an assistant coach at Illinois starting in 2007 and returned to ASU in 2014 as Quintana’s assistant.

“I have a lot of passion because it is my alma mater and I can say there’s no other school I would work harder for,” Rasmussen said. “They call it Sun Devil for life. They’re not lying. I truly am. The goal is to get back to the glory days and put ourselves in an opportunity to be a national contender.”

Quintana leaving ASU cross country for Oregon State

July 17, 2017

Louie Quintana, Arizona State cross country and track distance coach since 2004, is leaving to become Oregon State head women’s track/cross country coach.

Quintana was an assistant at ASU for two years before replacing Walt Drenth as head cross country coach in 2004. His athletes won NCAA track titles at six distances from 800-meter to 10,000. He has coached Amy Hastings Cragg, Kyle Alcorn and Shelby Houlihan, all who went on to become U.S. Olympians. 

His Oregon State hiring was announced Monday. 

Under Quintana, the ASU women’s cross country team finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in 2005 and 2007. Houihan was a 12-time All-America and 10-time All-America Cragg is a 2017 ASU Athletic Hall of Fame inductee.

He joins former ASU throws coach Dave Dumble at Oregon State.

“The timing of this promotion is at the right time for Louie and his career,” ASU coach track and field director Greg Kraft said in a statement. “Coach Quintana is ready for this challenge.” 

ASU’s opening cross country meet is Sept. 2, just six weeks away. Jeremy Rasmussen was assistant cross country coach under Quintana. It’s not known yet how ASU will proceed in filling the opening.

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