The Athletic Director Search Committee and ULM President Dr. Nick Bruno chose Brian Wickstrom as the school’s new athletic director. The announcement became official at a press conference held on July 2.
He suggested that the recent on field success of the football program would spark a desire for community involvement.
“I want to put this athletic department in a position to compete for championships in all sports on a regular basis”, said Wickstrom.
“We have to make sure we get our facilities upgraded and maintained to be a legitimate Division 1 pro¬gram.”
The choice was made largely due to his impressive background at several different institutions.
Most recently, Wickstrom has served as athletic director at the University of California, Riverside. While there, he was involved in renovations of the basketball and track facilities.
Prior to his time at UC Riverside, he was on staff at the Univerity of Texas at El Paso, where he played a significant role in bringing the 2011 Conference USA men and women’s basketball tournaments to the city of El Paso.
Wickstrom spoke about the need for an increase in student participation at athletic events.
“We’re trying to work out a rewards program to where we may give out some sort of reward or scholarships to students who show up at the most events,” said Wickstrom.
“We want a rewards program with promotions that are more tailored to¬wards the students and would want to get them more involved in our success.”
A native of Kansas, Wickstrom stayed home and ran track at Kansas State University where he received his bachelor’s degree in business ad¬ministration/finance.
He received a MBA in business administration/management from KSU and went on to finish his master’s degree in sports administration at Ohio University. His doctorate in educational leadership was earned at Eastern Michigan University.
He replaces former Athletic Di¬rector Bobby Staub, who resigned in April and has recently accepted a position at Florida International University.