UCF announces Stansbury as new athletic director

The search ended on Tuesday when UCF named Todd Stansbury as the new athletic director.

Stansbury, former executive associate director of athletics for Oregon State, was formally introduced by President John C. Hitt at a press conference. The new athletic director was also named a vice president, and he will serve on the president's cabinet.

The search started when former-AD Keith Tribble resigned amid the release of NCAA allegations in November that cited Tribble specifically.

Stansbury, who had been with the Beavers since 2003, expressed his excitement about coming to Orlando.

"UCF is a university of opportunity, and the opportunities have never been greater," Stansbury said. "I expect athletics to become an indispensable partner for the university, where we help lead the charge and basically can use the visibility and the interest that comes with athletics to shed a spotlight on what the university is all about."

Hitt said that his searched ended with finding the perfect fit for the job.

"Todd is an innovative leader who stresses the importance of integrity," Hitt said.

Stansbury fielded questions about compliance and the state of the program moving forward. He was firm on his stand that he has been around programs that "do things the right way," and that UCF would be no different.

"I'm committed to doing it with integrity; when I looked at the UCF Creed, the first word is integrity," Stansbury said. "It's up to department of athletics to [uphold] those principles. … [Universities I have been associated with] have done it the right way and won, so there's no reason we won't be able to do that here."

The incoming athletic director emphasized his goals of success in the classroom for athletes, something he stressed at Oregon State and previous stops. Under Stansbury, more than half of the Beavers' student athletes posted 3.0 GPAs or higher.

"I believe athletics is a vehicle to push young people to be better than what they think is possible," Stansbury said. "UCF is a place where that can happen."

Stansbury has a vision for the athletic program and its direction, and he sees the football program as a special area of importance.

"One of the things we've got to make sure of is that UCF is competitive at football, at the highest level," Stansbury said, adding that without an adequate football program many schools can find themselves on the outside looking in.

Outside of compliance and academics, fundraising was also stressed in the search for Tribble's replacement. During Stansbury's time at Oregon State, the annual athletic fund grew 155 percent, and ticket sales are up 80 percent since 2003.

Hitt thanked Admiral Al Harms for his role as the interim athletic director, a role in which he oversaw the official announcement of UCF moving to the Big East and a historic victory over then-No.4 Connecticut in mens basketball as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

The road ahead will be difficult for Stansbury, though. While the university has been proactive in taking action following the NCAA allegations of last November, there is still no telling how hard the school will come down on the program, which has previously had trouble.

Stansbury expressed confidence, though, especially with regards to the move to the Big East in 2013.

"With coaches, staff and students-athletes who are committed to winning the right way — with integrity and character — UCF should be very competitive immediately," Stansbury said. "I promise our fans this: the Knights will be ready for the Big East."