Interim AD Brady Barke shows promise at interview

Southeast Missouri State interim director of athletics Brady Barke, one of three finalists for the job, remembers arriving for his interview at the university.

It was the day after the notice of allegations against the men's basketball program came out, and he was applying for the assistant director of athletics for compliance opening.

He was told he could leave if he wanted, since he'd surely seen the news, but they'd love to continue the interview if he was up for it.

"I saw it as an opportunity to take something that was certainly going to be a challenge and bettering what it is. I did that," Barke said to the gathering for his open forum at the University Center Program Lounge on Wednesday afternoon.

Barke remained in that role until he was appointed senior associate to the president in 2013.

He said he gained a better understanding and appreciation of how athletics can fit into the overall campus, and he fostered relationships across the university that he wouldn't have otherwise

But when Mark Alnutt resigned as the Redhawks' athletic director to take the deputy director of athletics job at the University of Memphis in July, Barke moved back over to head up the athletic department, which further cemented the idea that "this is where I'm supposed to be and this is what I'm supposed to do."

In the past 10 months since he's served in the interim, Barke has begun to evaluate the way the department functions and how he'd move forward if he secured the position in a full-time role.

"This is a community, this is a university, that's dying for a winner. I'm sure you'll hear people say that, and it's true," Barke said. "This is a place that unfortunately we haven't had the level of success that anyone wants us to have since we turned Division I. We have an opportunity now to take us to a level where people can be proud of Southeast Missouri State University and what its athletics program stands for and what it adds to the community.

"It can't be done just operating the way that we have been. We have allowed ourselves -- through no fault of any one person -- to really become complacent and just rest on the fact that we have Division I athletics programs."

Barke said the three biggest areas to address within the department is the operational budget, salaries and facilities.

There have been discussions regarding how the department operates over the past year, which included figuring out what it provides and doesn't provide that a Division I program should be, according to Barke.

His goal is to compete for the Ohio Valley Conference's Commissioner's Cup, which is based on point totals for achievement levels in the conference, in three to five years, and Barke believes the operational budget needs to be in the top half of the conference to accomplish that feat.

Barke, who assisted Alnutt in the hirings of football coach Tom Matukewicz and men's basketball of Rick Ray, also emphasized a need for competitive salaries, meaning when a coach moves on to a higher level, they won't have to compromise by finding a less suitable but less expensive coach.

The department was able to renovate its weight room and has plans to upgrade its academic space with help from a donation from Dr. John and Judy Holcombe. The department also has an agreement in place with the City of Cape Girardeau for the installation of turf and other renovations to Capaha Field. Barke said there are two programs at Southeast that don't have locker rooms, which is "unacceptable," and among facilities issues that need to be emphasized.

"Those types of things are things we've looked at, and we've begun to formulate a vision for how to address that," Barke said. "And I think we're ready to launch a capital campaign, quite honestly, towards addressing some of these facility needs because if we don't do it now, we won't be able to catch up."

There were multiple questions asked about how to draw crowds to Redhawks events, particularly local alumni and university faculty and staff.

"We have to create that atmosphere that that's the place to be -- win or lose," Barke said. "... We probably have to survey some people. We probably have to reach out and try and figure out, 'Why? What is it that can make a better experience? What is it we can do differently?'"

Last year the department attempted to do a better job of engaging faculty and staff with "College Nights" where each college within the university has a particularly game that would be supported by them. The college receives a set number of tickets to use -- they could recognize some of their faculty or students at halftime or run a 30-second promo on the video board at the game -- and it's something Barke wants to continue to mold.

He gave an example from his time at Webster University, a Division III school where he played both basketball and golf. His organic chemistry professor considered him the "jock" of the class and was shocked when Barke invited him during class to attend one of his games.

The professor showed up and continued showing up to contests. Barke hadn't kept in contact with him after college, but when he was inducted into Webster's athletics Hall of Fame in February, that professor was in attendance.

"It took that personal interaction. It took that personal invite," Barke said. "But it changed the mentality, it changed the mindset, and we have to find ways whether it's with our student-athletes or whether it's through an experience. We have to find ways to reach out to those people and engage them."

Barke, whose wife Halley was in attendance at the forum, stressed that although he might not have the experience at other universities like the other candidates -- University of New Mexico senior associate athletic director Kurt Esser and Archdiocese of Los Angeles excutive director of development Dan Coonan -- he understands Southeast.

He described it as "where we'd like to raise our family" and a "challenge" that excites him.

"I wouldn't be interested in the position if I didn't wholeheartedly believe that it's something that we can turn into what everyone wants," Barke said. "Not to discredit anything that we've accomplished -- because you look back and we've won conference championships and we finished third in the OVC Commissioner's Cup two years ago and we've got baseball that's won three straight conference championships; we've got success, but we need to get that level of success across the board.

"There's no reason that every one of our programs can't compete for conference championships in any given year. We've got some that are a little further away, I'll be honest with you. We've got some coaching changes that have taken place, we're rebuilding some things -- there are some that are going to take a little bit of time. But from top to bottom, we have the best coaching staff that we have had since I've been here, and I think probably people that have been here a lot longer than me would say since we've been Division I.

"The opportunity for us is really now. ... I have a vision, I have an idea, I have a plan in terms of how to get there. I'm just looking for the green light."

Editor's note: This story was edited to correct the spelling of the university donor.