By Anna Corbett-Neal, Co-Editor-In-Chief
Newman University’s new athletic director says he’s not afraid of a challenge.
In fact, the chance to take on a new challenge was what made Texas native Kenyon Spears decide to take the job in Wichita, he said.
“I love challenges,” he said. “I love to be in the ‘roll your sleeves up’ mentality.”
Spears was hired in June to replace previous athletic director Joanna Pryor, who in January announced her resignation after five and a half years on the job.
Spears is from the small town of Nome, Texas, where he played high school basketball. He later was recruited to play at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, and graduated in 2001.
Shortly after graduation, he became a men's basketball coach at Lamar. He got his start in athletics administration at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, where he’d also worked as a head basketball coach.
So far, Spears said, he likes the environment at Newman.
“I’m so happy that I made the transition to move, to be able to engulf myself with the whole student body and all our coaches,” Spears said.
But moving to Wichita came with sacrifices, said Spears, the father of three. His wife and family stayed behind in San Antonio.
“God bless my wife…She does a lot for our family,” he said. “There's a lot of things I'm not there for and I miss…She’s the real hero.”
Spears said that his expectations for Newman’s athletes and coaches are simple.
“...Do things for the right reasons. Be competitive,” he said. “The standard is changing. We’re going to do things differently.”
Spears stressed that the little things matter and that he plans to uphold at Newman the service- oriented values he has experienced at his previous job.
“Everybody has a hand in doing things,” he said. “You wear multiple hats.”
PHOTO: Dannicka McGrath, Photo Editor
