The search is finally over-Boston College has its new Athletic Director. Fifty-three days after Gene DeFilippo announced his retirement as AD, Brad Bates will be introduced today as the new AD on the Heights, a BC source has confirmed to The Heights.
Until today’s decision, Bates had been the AD at Miami University in Ohio since 2002. Prior to that, Bates worked at Vanderbilt for 17 years, serving as the Senior Associate AD before he left.
From 2011-2012, Bates was the president of the 1A Athletic Directors Association. At Miami, during the most recent Graduation Success Rate calculation in 2011, Bates’ student-athletes achieved an overall rate of 89 percent, nine points higher than the national average.
In addition to his time at Miami and Vanderbilt, Bates has a football background, having walked on to the Michigan football team while he was attending school there. Bates played for legendary head coach Bo Schembechler. That football experience may factor into Bates’ first major task as AD, as he will have to evaluate the BC football program that is in the midst of a difficult stretch. The Eagles have won just five of their last 17 games, and it will likely be one of Bates’ first projects to find out how to fix that problem.
Miami is largely known for its successful men’s hockey program, as the Red Hawks reached the NCAA tournament every year from 2006-2012, including appearances in the Frozen Four in 2009 and 2010. BC played Miami during the semifinal round of the 2010 Frozen Four, beating the Red Hawks 7-1 en route to a national championship.
The Red Hawks play in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for every sport besides men’s hockey, which plays in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The hockey program is scheduled to join the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) in 2013, a highly-competitive conference which Bates helped establish to rival the new Big Ten Conference.
Over the past six years, Bates has overseen the building of various new athletic facilities at Miami University.
Bates takes over for interim AD John Kane, who replaced DeFilippo on Oct. 1.
