Post by wgt on Apr 1, 2024 8:29:10 GMT -5
Buffalo Article:
Who's next for St. Bonaventure? Potential candidates to become athletic director
Joe Manhertz became St. Bonaventure's athletic director in 2021.
Don’t expect St. Bonaventure to move quickly on naming its next athletic director.
The school announced the resignation of athletic director Joe Manhertz on March 23, and Bona already has interim co-athletic directors in place. The last two times the school hired an athletic director, the process took at least two months. Steve Watson left Bona for Loyola Chicago in November 2014, and Bona hired Tim Kenney in March 2015. Kenney’s contract was not renewed in May 2021, and Bona introduced Manhertz in August 2021.
Once an athletic director is in place, the first priority may become mending some fences among the tight-knit and fiercely loyal Bonnies community in the wake of Manhertz’s resignation. It also means quickly evaluating and adapting to a continuously changing landscape in college sports that has been impacted by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. Bona also needs to determine where it fits in the national picture, not just in basketball, but on athletic and cultural levels.
Here are potential candidates St. Bonaventure could consider:
Alumni
Bob Beretta, Le Moyne athletic director/assistant vice president of athletics and recreation: The 1987 St. Bonaventure graduate is a former Bonnies baseball player who has worked at Le Moyne since January 2021. Beretta has worked for 34 years in various athletic administration roles at West Point. He has overseen Le Moyne’s transition from Division II to Division I in college athletics. He’s supervised a restructuring of Le Moyne’s athletic department, which included bigger operating budgets, making coaches full-time staff members and creating Division I nonconference schedules that included opponents such as USC, Colorado and Penn State.
Outside the area
Deneé Barracato, Northwestern deputy director of athletics: The former Hofstra basketball player oversees operations and capital projects at Northwestern. Part of her role includes overseeing the proposed rebuilding of Ryan Field, the Wildcats’ football facility and managing Northwestern’s partnership with Under Armour apparel. Barracato has worked in athletic administration at the Division I, II and III levels, and was the NCAA’s associate director of Division I women’s basketball.
From Western New York
Brian Polian, John Carroll athletic director: The Polian name is more synonymous with football than it is with St. Bonaventure, but it’s also synonymous with Western New York. Polian is completing his first year at the helm of John Carroll’s athletic program. The St. Francis High School graduate not only has the understanding of big-time college athletics, with stops coaching football at schools like the University at Buffalo, Notre Dame, LSU, Baylor and Stanford. He also possesses the dynamics of working and living in a community with a passionate base, at the small college, regional and national levels.
Steve Mest, executive senior associate athletics director for development: A 1991 Bona graduate and a former Bonnies golfer, he has worked in various roles in sports administration at the school since 1998. Mest oversees annual fundraising and major gift solicitations, but has been Bona’s senior associate AD for external relations, assistant AD for communications and sport administrator for eight varsity teams, including men’s basketball. He has seen everything that has transpired in the program in the last 26 years, grasping a strong understanding of the school and the athletic department’s culture.
Barb Questa, interim co-director of athletics/senior woman administrator: She has taken on the interim role six times since joining Bona’s athletic department in 1992. The former field hockey player and lacrosse All-American at Temple is involved in multiple aspects of day-to-day athletic department operations, including budget approval, human resource initiatives and strategic planning. Like Mest, Questa knows the ins and outs of Bona’s athletic department and its community.
Who's next for St. Bonaventure? Potential candidates to become athletic director
Joe Manhertz became St. Bonaventure's athletic director in 2021.
Don’t expect St. Bonaventure to move quickly on naming its next athletic director.
The school announced the resignation of athletic director Joe Manhertz on March 23, and Bona already has interim co-athletic directors in place. The last two times the school hired an athletic director, the process took at least two months. Steve Watson left Bona for Loyola Chicago in November 2014, and Bona hired Tim Kenney in March 2015. Kenney’s contract was not renewed in May 2021, and Bona introduced Manhertz in August 2021.
Once an athletic director is in place, the first priority may become mending some fences among the tight-knit and fiercely loyal Bonnies community in the wake of Manhertz’s resignation. It also means quickly evaluating and adapting to a continuously changing landscape in college sports that has been impacted by Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal. Bona also needs to determine where it fits in the national picture, not just in basketball, but on athletic and cultural levels.
Here are potential candidates St. Bonaventure could consider:
Alumni
Bob Beretta, Le Moyne athletic director/assistant vice president of athletics and recreation: The 1987 St. Bonaventure graduate is a former Bonnies baseball player who has worked at Le Moyne since January 2021. Beretta has worked for 34 years in various athletic administration roles at West Point. He has overseen Le Moyne’s transition from Division II to Division I in college athletics. He’s supervised a restructuring of Le Moyne’s athletic department, which included bigger operating budgets, making coaches full-time staff members and creating Division I nonconference schedules that included opponents such as USC, Colorado and Penn State.
Outside the area
Deneé Barracato, Northwestern deputy director of athletics: The former Hofstra basketball player oversees operations and capital projects at Northwestern. Part of her role includes overseeing the proposed rebuilding of Ryan Field, the Wildcats’ football facility and managing Northwestern’s partnership with Under Armour apparel. Barracato has worked in athletic administration at the Division I, II and III levels, and was the NCAA’s associate director of Division I women’s basketball.
From Western New York
Brian Polian, John Carroll athletic director: The Polian name is more synonymous with football than it is with St. Bonaventure, but it’s also synonymous with Western New York. Polian is completing his first year at the helm of John Carroll’s athletic program. The St. Francis High School graduate not only has the understanding of big-time college athletics, with stops coaching football at schools like the University at Buffalo, Notre Dame, LSU, Baylor and Stanford. He also possesses the dynamics of working and living in a community with a passionate base, at the small college, regional and national levels.
Steve Mest, executive senior associate athletics director for development: A 1991 Bona graduate and a former Bonnies golfer, he has worked in various roles in sports administration at the school since 1998. Mest oversees annual fundraising and major gift solicitations, but has been Bona’s senior associate AD for external relations, assistant AD for communications and sport administrator for eight varsity teams, including men’s basketball. He has seen everything that has transpired in the program in the last 26 years, grasping a strong understanding of the school and the athletic department’s culture.
Barb Questa, interim co-director of athletics/senior woman administrator: She has taken on the interim role six times since joining Bona’s athletic department in 1992. The former field hockey player and lacrosse All-American at Temple is involved in multiple aspects of day-to-day athletic department operations, including budget approval, human resource initiatives and strategic planning. Like Mest, Questa knows the ins and outs of Bona’s athletic department and its community.
It will be three months before they can find a mutually agreeable date to meet.