Duquesne hires former University of Dayton VP as athletic director

Dave Harper doesn't want to compete with Ben Roethlisberger for the hearts and minds of local sports fans.

But he doesn't think the Duquesne athletic program should be invisible either.

With a realistic outlook but an optimistic tone, Harper was announced as the school's new athletic director at a Tuesday morning press conference at Palumbo Center.

“I won't pretend to say we're going to get above the fold with the Steelers (on the front page of the Sunday newspaper). That's going to be tough,” Harper said. “But I do believe there's a niche. When I looked at the number of alums in the area and all the different things we have, there's a niche.

“I think you have to create a special experience, whether it's at a soccer game, whether it's at a basketball game or a football game, and we've got to be ambassadors to draw people in.”

Harper, a 46-year-old father of four sons from Bellbrook, Ohio, has spent most of his career at Dayton. He was the school's vice president of advancement for the last three years. Before that, he was associate vice president of athletics, focusing on fundraising and men's basketball.

After graduating from Wright State, Harper earned an MBA from Robert Morris and was an assistant coach with the Colonials football team. He also spent two years as an assistant AD at Michigan from 2003-05.

“He is a leader and a strategic thinker who understands how to build a successful program,” said Duquesne president Charles Dougherty, who lauded Harper's fundraising abilities within seconds of announcing the hire.

In an early assessment of the school's flagship sports program, a men's basketball team that has recorded three straight losing seasons, Harper described the Atlantic 10 schedule as “murder” and gave an endorsement to third-year coach Jim Ferry.

“Jim is finally in a position now where he's had some continuity of roster, of establishing a program — his blueprint, if you will,” Harper said. “It's my job to make sure I support him.”

Otherwise, Harper said the Duquesne athletic program, which has seen its women's basketball team post six straight 20-win seasons and its FCS football team win the Northeast Conference two of the last four years, is built on a good foundation.

He said the school is in great shape too.

“Why are students picking Duquesne? The academic mix, the career preparation, the urban setting,” he said. “Those were good things to see because that's a positive trend for an institution.”

Harper said he would have to begin fundraising efforts and conduct a full review of the status quo first, but he suggested improving facilities, especially in the area of athletic training, would be one of his top priorities.

Harper replaces Greg Amodio, who left in June after 10 years at Duquesne to become the athletic director at Quinnipiac.

Under Amodio's leadership, Duquesne dropped baseball, wrestling, golf and swimming in 2010. Harper praised Amodio's efforts to achieve gender equity under trying circumstances and offered a frank assessment of the economic landscape for smaller-revenue schools in the NCAA.

Between cost of attendance, a stipend newly allowed by the NCAA to compensate athletes for living expenses and the yet-to-be-adjudicated Ed O'Bannon case — a lawsuit that would pay athletes for the NCAA's past use of their names and likenesses — smaller athletic departments could face a cost crunch to keep up with their larger counterparts.

“Let's face facts,” Harper said. “We're living in a world that is dominated by the Power 5 conferences, and they're pushing an agenda.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.