Wickstrom applies for Akron athletic director job

ULM athletic director Brian Wickstrom has applied for the same job at the University of Akron.

As first reported at thenewsstar.com, Wickstrom confirmed that he applied at Akron but declined further comment. Akron has been looking for a new athletic director since Tom Wistrcill resigned in June after three years.

Akron contacted Wickstrom over the weekend. Wickstrom's name circulated around the Fresno State AD position last November but he declined to interview.

ULM hired Wickstrom in the summer of 2013 from University of California-Riverside after the departure of Bobby Staub. In addition to his three years as the AD at UC-Riverside, Wickstrom worked in the athletic departments at Missouri, Santa Clara, Michigan and University of Texas-El Paso.

Akron’s current athletic budget is considerably larger than ULM’s at $32 million, good for 72nd in the country and more than 100 spots higher than $12 million budget at ULM. The Mid-American Conference member spent $300 million on various facility upgrades throughout the 2000s, including the opening of a new stadium in 2009.

ULM’s $4.1 million privately funded end zone football facility set to open in early 2016 is the first new athletic building on campus since 1983.

Despite the budget and facility upgrades, Akron announced in July that it was discontinuing its baseball program and laying off 215 employees.

Akron is one of the schools among the Group-of-Five conferences that plans to offer full cost of attendance to college athletes. Wickstrom said in July that ULM was exploring ways it could offer cost of attendance, but that it wasn’t likely the university could afford to provide the full $6,000 cost in 2016.

During Wickstrom’s time at ULM, the athletic department broke ground on the end zone facility, replaced the field turf at JPS Field and opened the James Mock baseball hitting facility adjacent to Warhawk Field. Fundraising has also increased under Wickstrom after declining during the later years of Staub’s tenure.

Outside contributions to ULM rose to $1.8 million in 2014 after falling to $1.1 million under Staub in 2012. Contributions rose by $650,000 after Wickstrom’s first year at ULM in 2013.

Revenue from ticket sales at ULM rose to $785,715 in 2013 before falling to $661,979 in 2014.

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