In the past 13 years Pepperdine Athletics has seen 21 regular-season titles 52 conference tournaments 2200 victories three West Coast conference Commissioner’s Cups two NCAA Division one-AAA All-Sports Trophies nine NCAA championship appearances in five different sports and two national championships.
Claiming victory in two-thirds of all matches within the past 13 years in a Dec. 1 2010 memo President Andrew K. Benton re-announced a transition for new athletic leadership that began Jan. 1. Dr. John Watson director of athletics since 1998 passed the reigns to Dr. Steve Potts a Pepperdine alumni and former professor and administrator in the Pepperdine School of Law.
After accepting the Athletic Director position in 2008 Potts said “Eight and a half years ago I left the best job in the world to pursue my passion for athletics.” Potts assumed a director of athletics position at Lipscomb University in Nashville Tenn. in 2000 where he completed the university’s transition into NCAA Division 1 certification by 2005.
In his time at Lipscomb Potts also oversaw major improvements in the university’s athletic facilities including a 5000-seat multi-purpose arena baseball and soccer complex renovations and the construction of entirely new weight room and softball facilities.
In light of the Campus Life Project unveiled last semester President Benton and Watson said they believed Potts to be a perfect successor for the athletic director position. The Campus Life Project plans for the construction of on-campus parking structures a 5000-seat multi-purpose arena new soccer track gym and housing facilities and the construction of numerous other campus improvements. It is expected to take approximately 5 to 8 years to complete construction totaling some $150 million or more largely raised by donations will be a massively coordinated university effort.
“Dr. Potts is an experienced NCAA Division 1 athletics director Watson wrote in an e-mail. He is well respected across the nation and most importantly is committed to the Christian mission of Pepperdine University. In my opinion he is the right person to lead the Athletics Department.”
In early 2008 Potts was approached by Benton and Watson with the position of director of athletics for Pepperdine University.
“There is no place that holds a more special meaning for me and my family than Pepperdine Potts said.
Potts and his family returned to Pepperdine over two and a half years ago and, according to Watson, he has done a remarkable job in leading many areas of the [Athletics] Department acting as the associate director of athletics.
Having been part of the Pepperdine family for nearly 40 years…26 of these years with athletics…I had concluded that the department needed new leadership and energy to maximize the vision of returning all our sports to national prominence Watson wrote.
In the Dec. 1 memo released by Benton, he wrote, [T]he selection of Steve Potts is not a decision made quickly or lightly… John and I knew we wanted Steve to lead the next wave in athletics.”
Although Phillip Hutcheson director of athletics for Lipscomb University has not spoken with Potts in some months he boasted of Potts’ “work ethic dedication intelligence and good nature. So much of the job of a director of athletics rises or falls with the abilities and efforts of those around him or her and Steve did a tremendous job of hiring and retaining good people.”
Hutcheson a former professional basketball player and Lipscomb alum continued saying Potts “is a man who helped raise Lipscomb to new heights in its athletic endeavors and I have every reason to believe he’ll do the same at Pepperdine.”
Watson is taking on a new role at Pepperdine: special assistant to the president a newly created self-proposed position. When asked to describe what this position would entail he vaguely said he would “support the president’s vision for Pepperdine.”
Watson was clear in stating that he “has been assessing the department and planning for the future. During this process I shared with President Benton that I had concluded that the department needed new leadership.”
Finding his successor in Potts he proposed the idea to President Benton back in 2008. While Watson will rejoin full-time faculty membership in the fall semester as a professor of education he will also become a more prominent figure of the Pepperdine hierarchy.
One Athletics Department staff member who wishes to remain anonymous commented that Watson gave himself a “comfortable promotion: teaching a class and hob-nobbing for Benton.”
In a press release last semester Benton mentioned donors will comprise a large majority of the budget for the Campus Life Project and various other university fundings. On Dec. 15 Watson hosted an important dinner with donors and is expected to become a fundraising force for the president’s vision.
With his new position Watson also “will continue to oversee the planning and hosting for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Regional Tournament at the Staples Center in March 2013 a large endeavor for both Pepperdine Athletics and University Publicity. And beyond teaching, Watson will be available to assist with other projects the President wishes to be addressed he said.
President Benton and Watson both alluded to future projects for both the Pepperdine community and Athletics Department specifically. However, they declined to comment on the nature of these projects, despite rumors of campus expansion and more extensive renovations.