Athletic Director Datcher Looks to Revive the Bison

Nearly a decade after he first applied for the job, native Washingtonian Dwight Datcher was introduced as Howard's new athletic director at a news conference yesterday.

Datcher had expressed interest in the job in the mid-1990s, when he was the athletic director at the University of the District of Columbia. Hank Ford was hired at Howard in the fall of 1996, and the following year Datcher became an associate athletic director at Georgetown. He said yesterday he has continued to follow Howard's athletic program over the past nine years, and that he decided to seek the job shortly after Sondra Norrell-Thomas stepped down this summer.

"They have the ability to do some great things here," said Datcher, 53. "It's my job to try to guide them and lead them through that."

The school's signature programs have struggled in recent years; the football team has not won more than six games since 1998, and the men's basketball team has lost 28 of its past 30 games.

"We need to turn it up a notch, and I think he understands that," said Howard President H . Patrick Swygert , who said he and Datcher have already discussed the possibility of a capital campaign to upgrade the school's athletic facilities. "I think he understands we need to be more competitive than we have been. . . . They've not had the resources I think that they warrant and that they deserve, and we're going to get at that as well."

Datcher, a former assistant men's basketball coach at Georgetown, has also served as the athletic director for Division III Roger Williams, his alma mater. He signed a five-year contract with Howard. Terms were not disclosed.

Vice Provost for Student Affairs Franklin D . Chambers , who chaired the selection committee, has served as interim athletic director since Norrell-Thomas stepped down. Chambers, like Swygert, said Datcher's local roots were a key factor in the hiring.

-- Dan Steinberg