Arizona Hires Dave Heeke as Athletic Director replacement for Greg Byrne

Over a month since it was announced that Vice President for Athletics Greg Byrne would be moving on, we finally learned that Dave Heeke would be the replacement.

As tough as it was for Wildcat fans to learn that Byrne would be leaving Arizona for Alabama, we were at least hopeful that a hire would happen soon, and by two very respected and qualified individuals. On Saturday, it appears former Arizona Deputy Athletic Director Kathleen “Rocky” LaRose, and former Arizona Athletic Director Cedric Dempsey found their man, Dave Heeke.

Heeke comes in as the school’s eighth Athletic Director, after having spent the last 11 years at Central Michigan University.

Perhaps a bit under the radar for some, Heeke has been a 28-year veteran in the college ranks, previously having served as Senior Associate Athletics Director/ Chief of Staff at Oregon, before his arrival at CMU.

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He has a strong resume and one that Wildcats fans should be particularly proud of. Once again, Heeke will return to the Pac-12 (formerly Pac-10) Conference with a bit of work to do, and of course, hopefully continue to build on Arizona’s strong athletic tradition.

As we all know, Byrne was instrumental in appropriating funding and donations to help build athletic facilities like the Lowell-Stevens facility in the North end zone of the football stadium, as well as the C.A.T.S Academic Center.

Heeke certainly seems to have quite the ability in funding as well.  In 2010, he helped generate $22 million for the renovation of McGuirk Arena, the Chippewas’ basketball and event facility center.

Additionally, Heeke oversaw the planning and design of the $8 million facility that houses the soccer and lacrosse teams.

Academics will also be critical as well moving forward for Heeke here at Arizona. The Academic Progress Report (APR) is a benchmark for every college athletic program and one he has taken pride in while at CMU.

While under Heeke’s guidance at CMU, his student-athletes not only performed on the field of play, but in the classroom as well.

"The department was twice honored with the Cartwright Award, which recognizes the Mid-American Conference’s top overall institution based on excellence in academics, athletics and citizenship.The athletic exploits of CMU’s student-athletes are matched by their academic accomplishments. All of CMU’s sport programs have exceeded NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) standards, while the department has posted an 81% Graduation Success Rate (GSR). The cumulative student-athlete GPA has surpassed 3.0 for 11 consecutive years, and the Chippewas have earned the MAC’s Institutional Academic Achievement Award 10 times"

In addition to his strong academic reputation, and solid athletic background, Heeke is well-respected in his profession, serving as just one of 11 Division I Athletic Directors on the NCAA Division I Athletic Director Advisory Group.

Texas Christian University’s AD Chris Del Conte took to social media, praising the move and ensuring Arizona fans that we have a good athletic director coming in Heeke.

https://twitter.com/_delconte/status/835603121174941700

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It looks like we should be quite excited for the addition of Heeke. He appears to have a strong resume, and at Zona Zealots, we feel he can continue to build on Arizona’s strong tradition! Bear Down, Arizona, and Welcome to the Wildcat family Dave!