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One of the things Syracuse Orange fans have been waiting to see would happen after the new athletic director was hired was who survives the transition. Joe Giansante was already gone but the two names floating in the ether with the most unknowns surrounding them were deputy ADs Renee Baumgartner and Herm Frazier. We have our answer on Baumgartner now that she's taken the Athletic Director post at Santa Clara University.
Santa Clara University has hired Renee Baumgartner as Director of Athletics, tapping a veteran who honed her administrative skills at two of the nation's most prominent programs.
Baumgartner, Ph.D. will join SCU on July 8 from her current post as deputy athletic director and chief of staff for athletics at Syracuse University, where she has served since 2011. Prior to joining Syracuse, she worked for more than two decades at the University of Oregon. She has been involved in NCAA Division I athletics as a student-athlete, coach, and administrator, beginning with her career as a four-year letterwinner and team captain for USC's nationally ranked golf team during her sophomore year.
Part of #TeamBrand along with DOC and Giansante, she oversaw "the daily operation of all facets of Syracuse athletics," so, depending on how you felt about the state of SUA in the last few years, that's probably how you felt about Renee's work as well.
She was also known for the fact that she was in the ill-fated brainstorming session about how to keep Fab Melo eligible. You know, the one that ended up sending us down a path to NCAA violations and sanctions.
That last fact isn't lost on Jon Wilner. The San Jose Mercury writer has long been weird when it comes to Syracuse, seemingly holding a grudge over things we're not quite sure exist. The two worlds collided again as Wilner has a local interest in Santa Clara and isn't too keen on the move:
Santa Clara names renee Baumgartner new AD. Deputy AD at Syr, liaison to corrupt men's bball program, attendee at infamous Fab Melo meeting
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) June 23, 2015
Really, REALLY would love 2 hear SCU explain how someone involved in Fab Melo meeting was MOST qualified candidate to lead its athletic dept
— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) June 23, 2015
Don't expect to see our corrupt program rank too highly this year, or any year, in any of Wilner's upcoming AP polls...