LEESBURG — For its 12th annual golf outing, the Kosciusko Chapter of the Indiana University Alumni Association welcomed IU Athletic Director Fred Glass Tuesday afternoon. Speaking at Tippecanoe Lake Country Club, Glass addressed members of the chapter, who later participated in the IU Stan Memorial Scholarship Golf Outing. Before hitting the links, alumni listened to a speech from Glass, who talked about his arrival at IU amidst some turmoil. Fresh off the Kelvin Sampson infractions and a few years after the death of beloved football coach Terry Hoeppner, Glass became the school’s athletic director on Jan. 1, 2009. “When I got the job, I went around talking to a lot of people within the program,” Glass recalled. “During those conversations, I had multiple coaches ask me, ‘Why come here to take this thing on?’” The fifth athletic director in eight years at IU, Glass had worked as a successful lawyer in Indianapolis, where he was born and raised. Despite his success as an attorney, his love for IU brought him back. A graduate of IU, Glass met his wife at an Indiana football game and all four of his children have attended the school. Once he was hired, he began to make changes, eliminating half of the senior staff that was in place and trying to change the thought process of those still working there. Instead of being around people who wanted things to stay status quo, he looked for some people who would think outside the box. He also set priorities, which he would focus on, even when outside forces tried to get in the way of them. “If you’re not set and focused on your priorities, everybody else’s priorities become yours,” he said. The priorities he set for the IU Athletic Department were: 1. Play by the rules; 2. Achieve Academically; 3. Excel Athletically; 4. Integrate with the university. According to him, all those points are being met. Bringing in more people on the school’s compliance staff, the athletic program has also hired more academic advisors, raising the school from ninth to third in terms of advisor-to-athlete ratio. Along with becoming more intertwined with the university, the success in the athletic spectrum is evident. In the past year, IU had 62 All-Americans, four Big Ten Players of the Year, seven Olympians, with two winning medals, the track and field team was the Big Ten champion, the men’s soccer team reached the Sweet Sixteen, as did the basketball team. “The basketball team had the biggest turnaround at Indiana University and enters this season at No. 1 in various polls,” he said about the school’s most popular sport. While basketball reigns supreme at IU, Glass is also hoping the football team picks up traction with second-year coach Kevin Wilson. “Just like (basketball coach) Tom (Crean) got the academic and character issues fixed first, Kevin is doing the same thing,” Glass said. And those kind of players may help IU get out of the Big Ten cellar, having gone 1-11 overall last season and 0-8 in the conference. “Kevin Wilson is the right guy to turn around Indiana football,” Glass said. “He’s sick of Indiana University football getting sand kicked in its face all the time.” While football was talked about, basketball wasn’t far from the alums’ mind, as the prospect of a new Assembly Hall was mentioned. To that, Glass was hesitant to say the “iconic venue” would be replaced any time soon. “Presently, we view the new Cook Hall (the practice facility), with all its bells and whistles, as a way to wow kids,” he said. “Because of that, I think that extends the life of Assembly Hall.” And as a lifelong Hoosiers fan, Glass doesn’t want to be the one that implements a plan to build a new basketball arena, which he estimated to contest between $250 and $300 million. “Cook Hall gives more life to Assembly Hall and hopefully lasts long enough to be the problem of the next AD,” he said. But while he’s still at the helm, he wants to see Indiana return to the level it was when he attended the school. “I want to be part of the new golden age of Indiana University athletics,” he said.
