Jim Schaus

Jim Schaus is the Commissioner of the Southern Conference. Formerlly, he served as athletic director at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.[1]

Jim Schaus
Current position
TitleCommissioner
TeamSouthern Conference
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2019–presentSouthern Conference (Commissioner)
2008-2019Ohio
1999-2009Wichita State

Early years

Jim Schaus received his Bachelor's degree from Purdue University. He earned a Master's degree in athletics administration from West Virginia University[2]

Career

Prior to his long career in administrating college athletics Schaus worked in the NFL where he was first an intern with the New England Patriots and later as the director of marketing for the Washington Redskins. He also worked for the for the LPGA Tour as publicity assistant. Before receiving an athletic director position he worked in the athletic departments at the University of Oregon, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Texas at El Paso and Northern Illinois University.[3]

Wichita State

Schaus was athletic director for Wichita State from 2007 to 2008. He was awarded the Division I Central Region AstroTurf AD of the Year in 2007.[4]

Ohio

From 2008 to 2019 he was the athletic director at Ohio. Under the leadership of Schaus and Head coach Frank Solich the Ohio football program was bowl eligible every season during his tenure. Ohio played in 10 bowl games and won the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the 2012 Independence Bowl, the 2017 Bahamas Bowl, and the 2018 Frisco Bowl. Ohio won the MAC East division title in 2009, 2011, and 2016 but failed to win the MAC Championship Game each time.

In 2012 the men's basketball team won the MAC Tournament and made the sweet sixteen in the NCAA Tournament while defeating Big Ten regular season co-champion Michigan in the first round. Ohio finished 2012 ranked #25 in the Coaches Poll.

Schaus hired Bob Boldon as the head coach of the women's basketball team in 2013. Under Boldon Ohio had one of the best stretches of success in program history. Ohio had winning seasons each of the final six years of Schaus' tenure at Ohio. They won the MAC East in 2015, 2016, and 2019. Ohio won the 2015 MAC Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In 2019 Ohio won a school record 30 games.

Ohio's volleyball team won seven MAC Championships while Schaus was AD and appeared in five NCAA Regionals. The baseball and softball teams each won two MAC Championsips. Ohio's graduation rate for athletes during his tenure was 88%.[5]

Southern Conference

On July 1, 2019 Schaus was hired as Commissioner of the Southern Conference. Southern Conference Basketball was performed at its highest level in decades both in terms of the quality of top teams and conference depth. Schaus implemented a new scheduling model to enhance the chances of success for Southern Conference programs. In 2019 the Southern Conference finished 10th in the NET rankings. Wofford finished the season ranked #19 and defeated Seton Hall in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UNC Greensboro and Furman both qualified for the NIT

Personal life

He is the son of former Los Angeles Lakers, Purdue, and West Virginia coach Fred Schaus. He and his wife Priscilla have three adult children.[6]

References
  1. "JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
  2. "JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
  3. "JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
  4. "JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
  5. "JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
  6. "JIM SCHAUS". Southern Conference.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.