Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeff Purinton has signed a new agreement that extends his contract to June 30, 2028, Arkansas State University Chancellor Dr. Todd Shields announced today.
“Jeff has been a great leader on our campus and in our community, and under his leadership, we’ve seen great collaboration between athletics and all parts of campus,” Shields said. “In these times of great changes within college athletics, we wanted to offer Jeff an extension to provide the Red Wolves with continued consistency of leadership for A-State Athletics.”
Purinton’s previous contract was set to expire on June 30, 2027.
“It is an honor to serve as the Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics at Arkansas State University, and I want to thank Chancellor Shields, President Welch, our Board of Trustees and our Red Wolves Foundation Board for their confidence that we are on the right track to accomplishing our collective goals and fulfilling our vision for A-State Athletics,” said Purinton.
“I am positive we can continue to enhance our national brand, win championships, excel academically and develop our student-athletes in everything we do. I also can’t overstate how extremely supportive our Jonesboro and university community have been, making this a wonderful home for me and my family. I’m excited about the future of A-State Athletics and the great things we can all accomplish together.”
Purinton was announced as Arkansas State’s Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics on May 4, 2022, becoming the 12th athletics director in school history. Successfully navigating the Athletics Department through its transition in leadership, Purinton hired key personnel to fill executive and senior-level positions within the development, marketing, finance and compliance areas while restructuring internally to create more effective and efficient work flow and production.
During the same time period, he also renegotiated lucrative agreements with multimedia rights holder LEARFIELD and adidas while also entering a partnership with Amplify to create a holistic revenue solution designed to serve Red Wolves fans.
Carrying out another major act in his first year as VCIA, Purinton tabbed Bryan Hodgson, regarded as one of the top recruiters and assistant coaches in the nation with 15-plus years of experience at the collegiate level, to lead the Red Wolves’ men’s basketball program. His latest coaching hire brought Sujay Lama to A-State as the Red Wolves’ head women’s tennis coach. A well-respected veteran coach with a highly successful track record, Lama holds 304 overall victories in his head coaching career that includes eight NCAA Tournament appearances and multiple conference championships.
During his first year alone at A-State, the Red Wolves earned six conference championships, collected a top-50 finish in the women’s Capital One Cup standings, posted the second highest finish among all Sun Belt Conference schools in the LEARFIELD Director’s Cup standings, and claimed national runner-up honors in women’s bowling.
The Red Wolves have performed at a high level academically under Purinton and his academic support staff, compiling an all-department 3.10 GPA for the 2022-23 academic year. More than 200 student-athletes earned a spot on the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll during both the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters.
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