ASU finally has its AD after over 170 days
The future of Arizona State athletics gained a little more clarity with the promotion of Graham Rossini, who was promoted to Athletic Director.
Rossini, an alumni of Arizona State, was currently serving as the Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief Business Officer in the program. In that role, he oversaw departments like ticket sales, philanthropy, NIL, partnerships, fan experience, and more. He’s also been the sports administrator for three ASU sports – hockey, baseball and volleyball. He also spent time working with the Arizona Diamondbacks in a similar role.
“What we found was that the best executive to lead us was one that was with us,” ASU president Michael Crow said. “That has over 20 years of experience in sports administration, sports business, sports development, sports marketing, sports management. He’s a Sun Devil through and through himself, who’s a very, very able executive, capable of operating within the ASU system.”
The move from the University comes after six long months searching for a new AD after parting ways with Ray Anderson. The six month gap between athletic directors had consequences for ASU, with the departures of Bob Bowman and several key players in big sports opting for other schools during that time.
Immediately, Rossini will face some uphill battles, with the university’s NIL program lacking true stability and the overall poor performances from major sports in recent seasons.
Crow added that during the six month gap, the only candidate he conducted an in person interview with was Rossini, causing some backlash.
While some outside voices expressed desire to hire an AD externally, there should be some perks from hiring from within. He has familiarity with much of the program to begin with, he joins a group of leadership in the athletic department full of Sun Devil alumni, just like Rossini.
“The ability to lead the athletics department at my alma mater is a responsibility that I can enormously proud to take on,” Rossini said. “I am so thankful for the many opportunities in my life that were created through ASU and I have much to repay as a result.”
Time will tell if Rossini is the guy in Tempe, but the road certainly appears to be a little more clear in the short term for Sun Devil fans.