Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Athletic Director |
Team | Emporia State |
Conference | The MIAA |
Biographical details | |
Born | Belleville, Kansas | April 25, 1959
Alma mater | Kansas State University |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1991–1994 | UMKC (sales) |
1994–2000 | Kansas State (assistant AD) |
2004–2004 | Wichita State (associate AD) |
2010–2011 | New Mexico (assistant AD) |
2016 | Regis (interim) |
2016–2022 | Regis |
2022–present | Emporia State |
David Spafford (born c. 1965) is an American university sports administrator and eighth athletic director for Emporia State University, a NCAA Division II sports program in Emporia, Kansas. [1] Previously, Spafford was the athletics director at Regis University, and before that, served as the assistant or associate athletics director for several college institutions.
Spafford was born in Belleville, Kansas, to Captain Gail Dean Spafford and Peggy Lorraine Slate. He graduated from Kansas State University in 1990 with a degree in political and social science, and also competed on the 1986 Kansas State Wildcats football team. [2] Spafford is married to the former Bryanna Furman, with whom he shares six children with. [3]
During his college and post-college years, Spafford served as an assistant high school football coach. He helped coach the 1988 Manhattan High School football team to an undefeated season, winning the state championship. [4]
In 1991, Spafford joined the intercollegiate athletic world when he joined the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) Athletic Foundation as the basketball ticket sales coordinator. [5] After three years at UMKC, Spafford began his eight-year career at his alma mater, Kansas State. At Kansas State, Spafford served as the assistant athletic director for development, connecting with university alumni, and fundraised millions of dollars for the Ahern Scholarship in 1998. [6]
In 2000, Spafford joined Wichita State University as its the associate athletic director of development, where he oversaw all fundraising activities for Shocker Athletics. [7] Spafford fundraised to renovate Charles Koch Arena, which led to the renaming after Charles Koch, along with Eck Stadium.
In 2004, Spafford left Wichita State to be an agent for State Farm, where he stayed until 2010. [8]
For one year, beginning in 2010, joined the University of New Mexico as the athletics department major gifts assistant director and secured the lead gifts for the renovation of the basketball arena and the Lobo Baseball Field. [9]
After a year at New Mexico, Spafford spent the next five years between the Kansas State University Foundation and Oklahoma State University–Stillwater Foundation.
In July 2015, Spafford joined Regis University as the university advancement vice president with the goal of fundraising for athletics. [10] Six months later in January 2016, Spafford was named the interim athletic director and was promoted to the full-time position in June 2016. [11]
Spafford served on multiple committees for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), as well as the NCAA Division II during his years at Regis. Under his leadership, every sports teams had participated in the RMAC postseason play, with the lacrosse team advancing to the NCAA Division II national semifinals in both 2018 and 2019, and the Ranger volleyball team to the national semifinals in 2019 after reaching the Elite Eight in 2018. [12]
Spafford spearheaded $6.5 million in fundraising to build a new athletic center, as well as renovate all locker rooms, athletic officers, a new ticket office, and sound and video boards as well as an indoor facility and artificial turf. [13]
On June 29, 2022, Spafford was announced as the eighth director of athletics at Emporia State. He began July 17, 2022. [14]
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) from approximately 1910 through the late 1960s, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the western United States, mostly in Colorado with members in Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah.
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The KCAC is the oldest conference in the NAIA and the second oldest in the United States, tracing its history to 1890.
Emporia State University is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. Emporia State is one of six public universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.
Pittsburg State University is a public university in Pittsburg, Kansas. It enrolls approximately 7,400 students and is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents.
William L. White Auditorium, commonly known as White Auditorium, is a 5,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Emporia, Kansas. It is home to the Emporia State University men's and women's basketball teams, as well as the volleyball team.
Larry Ronald Kramer was an American football player and coach of football and baseball. He played college football at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he was consensus selection at tackle to the 1964 College Football All-America Team. Kramer served as the head football coach at Southern Oregon College—now known as Southern Oregon University—in Ashland, Oregon from 1970 to 1971, Austin College in Sherman, Texas from 1973 to 1982, and Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas from 1983 to 1994, compiling career college football coaching record of 124–115–5. He led his 1981 Austin team to a share of the NAIA Division II Football National Championship.
The Emporia State Hornets are the athletic teams that represent Emporia State University (ESU). The women's basketball and softball teams use the name Lady Hornets. The university's athletic program fields 15 varsity teams in 11 sports all of whom have combined to win 50 conference championships as well as three national championships. Corky the Hornet serves as the mascot representing the teams, and the school colors are black and gold. Emporia State participates in the NCAA Division II and has been a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) since 1991.
The Emporia State Hornets football program is a college football team that represents Emporia State University, often referred to as "Emporia State" or "ESU". The team competes as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), which is a conference in the Division II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The program began in 1897 and has fifteen conference titles. On December 15, 2006, former Hornet quarterback Garin Higgins became the team's 24th head coach, following the resignation of Dave Wiemers. Home games are played on Jones Field at Welch Stadium, located on the Emporia State University campus in Emporia, Kansas. In August 2017, Hero Sports named Emporia State the "best football team in Kansas, regardless of division."
The Central Intercollegiate Conference (CIC) was an American intercollegiate athletic conference that operated from 1928 to 1968. It was less often referred to as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIAC), particularly towards the beginning of its existence. Formed in late 1927, the conference initially had seven members, all located in the state of Kansas, and began play in early 1928. Many of the league's members went on to form the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) in 1976.
Sheahon Jay Zenger is an American university sports administrator and former assistant American football coach. Zenger currently serves as the athletic director at the University of New Haven. He previously was fired from his role as the athletic director at the University of Kansas in 2018 where he had served since 2011, and Illinois State University.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) was a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), operated in the western United States. It was aligned with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). The two allied conferences worked under the name of the Mountain and Plains Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MPIAA). It was announced on May 15, 1972. The founding schools were Fort Hays State College ; Kansas State College of Emporia ; Kansas State College of Pittsburg ; Southern Colorado State College ; the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the University of Northern Colorado and Washburn University. The conference only lasted four years, as Nebraska–Omaha and Northern Colorado left for the North Central Conference (NCC), Southern Colorado went back to the RMAC, and the rest of the schools started the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC), which merged into the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) effective in the 1989–90 school year.
The Emporia State Lady Hornets basketball team represents Emporia State University and competes in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) of the NCAA Division II. On April 6, 2018, Toby Wynn was announced as the seventh head coach, replacing Jory Collins who left to join former Lady Hornet coach Brandon Schneider at the University of Kansas.
The Emporia State Hornets basketball team represents Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, in the NCAA Division II men's basketball competition. The team is coached by Craig Doty, who is in his first season as head coach. The Hornets currently compete in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Laurence Charles Boylan was an American educator most notably for serving as an administrator at what is now known as Emporia State University. Before serving as president of the Kansas State Teachers College (KSTC), Boylan was the Dean of Graduate Studies at KSTC and served at a couple of different institutions before coming to Emporia.
The Emporia State Hornets baseball team represents Emporia State University in NCAA Division II college baseball. The team participates in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. The teams plays its home games on Glennen Field at Trusler Sports Complex, located just north of the Emporia State campus, and are coached by Seth Wheeler.
Kent L. Weiser is an American university sports administrator and former college golf coach. Weiser served the athletic director for Emporia State University, a NCAA Division II sports program in Emporia, Kansas, 1999 to 2022. Previously, Weiser was the associate athletics director at Oregon State University.
Robert William Fornelli is an American college baseball coach and current head baseball coach at Pittsburg State University. Previously, Fornelli coached at his alma mater Emporia State University from 2004 to 2018 where he guided the Hornets to five Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular season championships and two conference tournament championships, 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament, two World Series appearances and a national runner-up finish. Fornelli was the coach at Fort Hays State from 1996 to 2003.
William Dale Tidwell was an American university sports administrator and former college track and field and cross country coach. Tidwell served as Emporia State University's athletic director from 1971 to 1979, and coached track and field, as well as cross country from 1979 until 1984 after his retirement as athletics director.
Ralph McFillen is a former American National Collegiate Athletic Association conference commissioner. McFillen, before retiring in 2007, served as the commissioner for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), an NCAA Division II conference since 1997. Before serving as the MIAA commissioner, McFillen was the commissioner for Metro Conference and Gulf South Conference.