Charleston, S.C. Citadel President Lt. Gen. John W. Rosa announced on Friday the names of three finalists in the search for the school's director of athletics. The finalists will be considered to fill the position currently held by Les Robinson, who announced his retirement in January and will step down from the position on June 30.
The finalists were selected by a search committee chaired by U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Michael Duffy and consisting of Tommy McQueeney, Xavier Starkes, Henry Johnson, Lt. Col. William Sharbrough III, Brenda Carter and Tom O'Brien. Selected from a pool of 69 applicants are Andrew Carter, Larry Leckonby and Wm. Lee Moon.
“It is exciting that three such qualified athletic director candidates want to bring their talent and experience to The Citadel,” Rosa said. “I look forward to meeting each of them and making a recommendation to the Board of Visitors next month.”
Andrew Carter is currently the director of athletics at Newberry College where he has served in the position since September 2001. He currently supervises a department comprising 16 varsity sport programs, 13 head coaches and over 500 student-athletes. Carter developed the “Athletic Initiative,” a strategic plan that has increased Newberry's operating budgets by 125 percent, salary budget by 175 percent and athletic scholarship budget by 125 percent.
Prior to joining the staff at Newberry, Carter served as the director of athletics at Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis for five years after working as the baseball head coach for eight seasons. He currently serves as chair of the Athletic Director's Council for the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) and has previously served on the NCAA Division II National Baseball Committee.
Carter is a 1987 business administration graduate of Missouri Baptist where he has worked in various positions until his appointment at Newberry. He received a master's degree from Lindenwood University in 1990, also in business administration.
Larry Leckonby is a senior associate director of athletics and chief financial officer of athletics for the University of Maryland. He is responsible for the department's annual $54 million budget, annual debt service of $4.8 million, capital projects and long range financial forecasting. The capital projects have included a $50.8 million expansion of the football stadium, which is currently underway, expansions to the Gossett Football Team House, six new grass and field turf practice fields, renovation of the track and construction of the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
Prior to joining the staff at Maryland, Leckonby served as the senior associate director of athletics at the University of Houston for four years, where he also held the position of interim director of athletics for five months. Leckonby has also served as associate director of athletics for business affairs at Boston College and assistant director of athletics for finance and operations at Old Dominion University. He has also held positions at Boston University, University of Massachusetts and Duke University.
Leckonby is a 1979 Duke graduate where he earned a bachelor of science degree in management science. He later received a master of science in sport management from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He has been an active member of the College Athletic Business Managers Association since 1985 and currently serves on the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Insurance Committee and ACC women's basketball committee.
Wm. Lee Moon is the senior associate director of athletics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he is responsible for internal operations of athletics administration and the oversight of all men's sports programs. Moon's duties have included the oversight of a $16.5 million budget, which includes 11 women's sports and six men's sports.
Prior to joining the staff at UAB in 2004, Moon served as the director of athletics at the University of Wyoming and Marshall University. He was also the assistant director of athletics for operations at Kansas State University after working four years as an assistant football coach at Mississippi State University. His coaching career also included stints at the University of Virginia, Duke and Staunton Military Academy.
Moon is a 1970 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history and played football for the Keydets. He received a master of education degree from the University of Virginia in 1973 after playing one season of semi-professional football for the Roanoke Buckskins.
Moon previously served on the Football Bowl Subdivision Athletic Directors Association Executive Committee and has held positions on the NCAA Football Issues Committee. He has also served as a chairman on the Southern Conference Director of Athletics Committee, Southern Conference Men's Basketball Committee and member of the NCAA-IAA South Football Advisory Committee.
The finalists will visit campus for interviews in the upcoming weeks. Media inquires will be handled by the Office of External Affairs at (843) 953-6965.
