Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Fourth finalist possible later in process
PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico has three finalists, and potentially a fourth, in its second go-round to hire a new athletic director and is planning campus visits this week.
ENMU Chancellor Jeff Elwell reported on the three finalists during Friday’s ENMU board of regents meeting.
The candidates are:
n Matt Billings, deputy athletic director at Portland State University. Billings has been at Portland State for eight years, and previously served the college in athletics compliance and student services field. He will make his on-campus visit Monday.
n Dan Moye, executive senior associated athletic director for internal operations at Southern Utah. Moye, who joined SUU in 2016, also worked with apparel company Adidas for 16 years, most recently serving as its NCAA manager. He will make an on-campus visit Tuesday.
n Jason Trufant, athletic director at Mississippi University for Women. A former Division I student-athlete and college baseball coach, Trufant has been in administration positions in various Division II schools and is the baseball chair for the East Coast Conference. His visit is scheduled for Wednesday.
A fourth candidate was mentioned but never identified as a finalist, Elwell said, because no agreement had been struck for a campus visit.
The university has been without a fulltime athletic director since the resignation of Greg Waggoner in June. Waggoner is scheduled to begin in January as AD at Division III Johnson and Wales in Denver.
Since Waggoner’s departure, the college has embarked on two searches to fill the position. The first time through, Elwell said, the committee couldn’t come to an agreement on any of the candidates.
Jeff Long, vice president of student affairs, has filled the role on an interim basis.
Whoever is chosen will likely be tasked with hiring a new coach. Elwell told regents the university was ready to start offering women’s golf as a new sport in the fall.
Elwell said the Lone Star Conference has expressed excitement over adding ENMU to the fold, and would not need to do anything other than add one more team to its current slate of tournaments.
The university has a practice agreement set up with New Mexico Military Institute and is working on one at Colonial Park Golf Course in Clovis. The nine-hole Portales Country Club, Elwell said, doesn’t meet NCAA standards.
