GW Athletic Director Patrick Nero: ‘I want to see us win championships’

Officially, George Washington Athletic Director Patrick Nero has been on the job a little more than two months, but Nero’s tenure actually began well before his July 1 start date.

Shortly after his hiring was announced in April, Nero fired longtime men’s basketball coach Karl Hobbs and hired Mike Lonergan to replace him — all before Nero moved into his Smith Center office.

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By making his first act as athletic director a coaching change in GW’s most high-profile sport, the former America East commissioner not only put his immediate stamp on the athletic program but also tied his fate to Lonergan’s.

The moves appear to signal Nero’s intention to propel GW athletics to a level equal to the university’s profile.

“Most important to me would be to match the excellence that is everywhere on campus,” Nero said.

In an extensive interview at his office this summer, Nero talked about why he made a change in men’s basketball, the challenges of making GW competitive in the Atlantic 10 Conference, the findings of the university’s athletic review committee and what he believes the mission of GW’s athletic department should be.

“I want to see us win championships,” Nero said. “I want us to win Atlantic 10 championships. I want us to begin to compete in certain sports where it is possible for national championships. I really do. I mean, I’m okay with saying winning is important.”

But Nero knows that winning takes resources, something that has been in short supply at GW. One of the first things he did after taking the job was to look at where GW stood in terms of athletic spending in relation to other Atlantic 10 teams.

“Typically, our funding is the bottom third of the conference,” he said, noting that GW’s fundraising was “very far behind.”

“We don’t have a traditional athletic fundraising unit right now,” he said.

Unlike just about every other athletic program in the Atlantic 10, GW does not have a stand-alone development office in its athletic department. Most conference schools have from three to six people dedicated to raising money for athletics. GW has one full-time athletic fundraiser who is housed in the university’s development office.

Because fundraising tends to be the primary revenue stream for athletic programs at private universities, GW has been hampered by its lack of staffing in this area.

In addition, GW’s situation is unusual in that intercollegiate athletics, recreation sports (intramurals, club teams), and student health and wellness are all funded out of the athletics budget, with more than 50 percent of those funds being spent on recreation and the Lerner Health and Wellness Center, the on-campus fitness facility for staff and students. This is one of the concerns being addressed by the university’s athletic review committee.

The committee, which was formed this year, put together a 1,200-page report on its initial findings. It has now split into two groups — one for intercollegiate athletics, one for recreation sports and health and wellness — that will put forward recommendations based on those findings later this year.