After a nationwide search that brought in over 75 applicants, Sacramento State president Donald Gerth named Terry Wanless the school’s next athletic director at a May 29 press conference.

“I believe Terry will prove himself an outstanding addition to this university, and indeed to the whole community,” Gerth said at the press conference.

Wanless most recently served as athletic director at the University of North Dakota, a Div. II program, from 1990-1999. Under his reign at North Dakota the program won four national championships and took 36 conference titles in various sports.

The Hornet athletic director position became vacant when Debbie Colberg announced her resignation on Jan. 3. Colberg had held the athletic director position since Feb. 10, 1999, and she still remains the Hornet women’s volleyball coach, a position she held throughout her tenure as athletic director.

After Colberg’s resignation, an athletic director selection committee headed by Vice President of Financial Affairs Edward Del Biaggio was assembled.

The eight-member committee narrowed down a pool of 75 applicants down to five. Those five applicants (Kelly Higgins, James Fallis, Mack Rhoades, Nelson Bobb and Wanless) were then brought to the Sacramento State campus for one-day visits from April 28 through May 2.

During their visits the candidates were given a guided tour of the campus and met with coaches, administrators, the selection committee and took questions from an open forum. Wanless was the last of the five candidates to visit the campus.

After the campus visits, the pool of five candidates was again narrowed down by the committee, with the remaining candidates left in the hands of Gerth, who made the final decision.

“(Wanless) is a proven leader with a clear vision of the value of athletics in higher education, and of how to build a successful program,” Gerth said.

Wanless feels that facility upgrades, specifically in the basketball program, are necessary in order to build successful programs.

“What a new facility will do is allow coaches to bring their recruiting situation up a bit,” Wanless said.

There are many areas for improvement within the athletic program, as the Hornets football, baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s basketball teams combined for a dismal .297% winning percentage.

“I think this is a community waiting for Sacramento State to break out,” Wanless said during his May 3 visit to the campus. “Failure does not generate emotional excitement.”

Prior to his tenure at North Dakota, Wanless was director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Western Carolina for four years. Wanless has most recently served in the athletic consulting business.

With his many years of experience, Wanless feels he is ready to turn the athletic program around and make Hornet athletics a “dominant force in the Big Sky Conference.” But he realizes that it will take more than just a magic wand.

“Each institution is different. It isn’t just one magic formula,” Wanless said.