St. John's thinks it's hit the jackpot with new athletic director Ed Kull
Ed Kull, newly named St. John's Athletic Director, speaks during his introductory news conference at St. John's on Tuesday. Credit: James Escher
From conference realignment to NIL deals for athletes to television rights packages, the landscape of college sports almost seems to shift daily. The one thing that remains constant is the way money drives it all. And St. John’s believes it has the person to steer it across that changing terrain in Ed Kull.
The school introduced Kull as its new athletic director at a campus news conference on Tuesday. He comes to St. John’s after four years as AD at Fordham, where he sparked record-setting fundraising numbers - $7.6 million last year – and helped lift the athletics department to successes some thought would not be possible again in this landscape.
Kull – who grew up in Queens, played baseball at Stony Brook and now lives on Long Island – spent seven years before that as a successful fundraiser in the president’s office at St. John’s and several others in the business world, working for Mike Repole, the St. John’s alumnus and entrepreneur billionaire.
“I think there's always been this feeling of unfulfilled potential,” Kull said. “The time is right. I couldn’t be more inspired and motivated to come back . . . and help lead [St. John’s] through the challenges and the future of what the NCAA is going to be.”
“This is not a beginner job,” St. John’s president Rev. Brian J. Shanley said. “You really have to know what it’s like right now to be in that seat. Ed’s success at Fordham, particularly on the basketball side – I know Ed can do this job. We were also looking for someone who can navigate the complex relationships that are critical to athletics’ success. With donors, with corporate sponsors, we need help in order for us to be successful and I know Ed has those skills.”
Shanley said six current college athletic directors were also candidates.
Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino’s Red Storm basketball program is the centerpiece of the athletics department and sustaining the flow of top-notch talent that it can bring in with NIL money is the obvious priority. Pitino said he wasn’t involved in the search but called officials at Madison Square Garden and coaches at Fordham about Kull and, “Everyone I spoke with was over-the-top with him.”
Other basketball-related priorities are the construction of the planned basketball training facility and renovations on Carnesecca Arena because, as Pitino said, “If Carnesecca is going to be a home, they've got to change it.”
There are ongoing negotiations to settle a lawsuit related to NCAA efforts to regulate the flow of NIL money. It could change many things related to money going to athletes, however Kull believes, regardless of the outcome, fundraising and supporting the basketball program are the priorities.
“Revenue generation is going to be everything [as is] how to be creative in terms of additional sponsorships, naming opportunities, fundraising,” he said. “I don't see NIL going away, even with the [negotiations]. . . . I don't see it. I know there's a lot of intent [and] the NCAA hopes that's the case. I don't see it ever changing.”
When asked if he felt the Storm had the resources on that front to compete nationally, he replied, “We're competing. We're fighting. Obviously, some good talent [has] arrived here.”
“We all hope there someday would be some sort of cap . . . but until then that's got to be a priority in terms of getting talent here,” Kull added. “[Fundraising] is also going [to help] improve our facilities and we continue to invest in capital projects. But if NIL is a means of getting us top talent and helping coach win, that becomes a priority very, very quickly.”
Kull plans to engage donors, alumni and corporate sponsors. That includes Repole, who already has said he will be more supportive of the Red Storm.
“I think he wants his alma mater to be on top,” Kull said. “He doesn't like losing in horse racing, he doesn't like losing in business, he doesn't like losing in politics [and] he doesn't want to lose at St John's. . . . . Hopefully Mike also becomes a lightning rod to get other people back.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
