By Pat Tintle
Sports Editor
St. Bonaventure University has found its new Director of Athletics in Tim Kenney, the former executive associate athletic director for the University of Massachusetts. Kenney will start work at Bonaventure in mid-April.
In his introductory news conference held in the St. Bonaventure Hall of Fame on March 19, Kenney, a graduate of the University at Buffalo, addressed the Bonnies crowd with words of thanks and humility.
Replacing interim athletic director Ron Zwierlein, Kenney said that in his new role, student-athletes are his top priority.
“I provide you with the support and the resources to be successful in the classroom and in competition,” Kenney said to the student-athletes in attendance. “That’s our goal. Everything we do here in the athletic department is for you guys. You guys are here, you guys are representing the institution, and we’re going to try to give you everything we can for you to be successful.”
Addressing Bonaventure fans, Kenney stated that the Bonnie following is a unique breed of fandom in college sports.
“Last weekend, I got to experience the passion and pride of the Bona Nation down in Brooklyn,” Kenney said. “(They were) chanting my name, so at least they know who I am. That’s a good thing. But all the Bona’s fans I’ve met or had a conversation with just made me more excited to get here. They were coming up to me saying ‘Welcome to the family.’”
Kenney also acknowledged the importance of having a respectable athletic department in a small, private institution.
“A lot of people don’t know how great this place is,” Kenney said. “We have to get that word out and we have to use athletics – because it is a front doorstep to the university – to get that word out.”
However, making St. Bonaventure a powerful name in the world of college sports will not come without certain changes, according to Kenney.
“First and foremost, we’ve got to get some of the stuff in line in terms of resources, to meet some of the resources we’re kind of lagging in,” Kenney said following the press conference. “And that goes with locker rooms – for teams that don’t have locker rooms – things along that line. Resource-wise, we’ve got to figure out (how to get resources) in other creative ways. Whether it’s sponsorship or donations, to make sure our teams and coaches have the resources to compete in the Atlantic 10.”
Kenney stated that while he wants to support the men’s basketball recruiting process directly, there are also other, more visual ways to make the Bonaventure brand an attractive option for basketball prospects.
“(It will take) doing stuff in the Reilly Center, to bring it up to levels where recruits come in and they’ll be a little more wowed,” Kenney said. “But also fans. The customer aspect is huge. I see the fans, but I also see the pockets of empty seats. I ask myself ‘How are we going to fill them,’ and that’s some of the revenue that we can use. When you come into this place, you’re spending hard-earned money to come to a game. You want to have a good experience.”
Kenney is making the transition from working for the third-largest school in the A-10, to the smallest. However, in his time at UMass (which enrolls 28,600 students), Kenney is credited with restructuring the Minutemen athletic department, while also securing the first $10 million gift in the history of UMass athletics.
Similar results will be seen at St. Bonaventure if the brand is marketed in the right hands, according to Kenney.
“I just don’t think the story has been told as to why (Bonaventure) needs the money,” Kenney said. “That’s really what I’m looking at. It’s a manageable athletic department – it’s not huge. I told the coaches this, ‘Scholarship-wise, you’re good. It’s the operating budget where we have to work at.’”
