Graham Rossini is expected to soon receive a massive promotion to serve as Arizona State's next athletic director, people familiar with the plan told Sun Devil Source.
As ASU's chief business officer and executive senior associate athletic director, Rossinirapidly ascended through the department's upper management ranks after being hired as a senior associate athletic director for the Sun Devils in March of 2021 and promoted last fall to senior associate athletic director and chief business officer.
Rossini, 44,has also served as the senior administrator for ASU baseball, hockey and women's volleyball for the last three years, including being largely responsible for the hiring of JJ Van Niel, who was Pac-12 Coach of the Year in his first season leading the Sun Devils to their second-highest volleyball season win total ever.
An ASU alumnus who earned bachelor of science andMBA degrees from ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business, Rossini spent five years as the school's director of baseball operations before taking a job with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he worked for the following 13 years. Rossini has not worked for any other school's athletic department, with his entire experience in college athletics administration taking place at ASU.
Rossini is a member of ASU president Michael Crow's university council and management teams, and he is responsible for Sun Devil Athletics' external departments related to ticket sales, corporate partnerships, philanthropic contributions, NIL development and fan experience.
Jim Rund, ASU senior vice president for educational outreach and student services, has served as the school's interim athletic director for the last six months following the resignation of Ray Anderson in November. The significant length of time to name a replacement was related to the university making changes to its operation, according to its president.
Crow expressed in media comments in recent months that he had undertaken efforts to update the athletic department's business model. Those plans include moving the cost of all athletics scholarships to the university's budget, which would effectively eliminate the need for a vast majority of its institutional aid subsidies— which were reported to total$11,226,695 in fiscal 2022-23.
Industry insiders, including search firms, agents, and athletic directors at other schools, were asked by Sun Devil Source whether they'd heard if ASU had conducted an external search for the job. None of those people contacted said they had heard of ASU seriously vetting or interviewing any other candidates.
Crow faced questions this spring from some high-profile boosters, Sun Devil Club board members and others about his interest in promoting Rossini or any other current ASU athletic department official to the position in the wake of the schools's negotiated resolution with the NCAA on major recruiting infractions committed by former football coach Herm Edwards and his staff.
Sun Devil Source previously reported on the extensive show-case penalties agreed to by Edwards and several of his staffers, as well as the $4.4 million paid to Edwards as severance.
As vice president of special projects and fan experience for the Diamondbacks before arriving at ASU in early 2021, Rossini had a role in the management of ticketing, corporate partnerships, special events, food and beverage, and merchandise, according to his ASU biography. He also reportedly was in charge of the team's alumni outreach, branding and sustainability efforts.
The Diamondbacks developed more than $300 million in capital projects during Rossini's tenure, as he oversaw the design, construction, ticket sales, and marketing of Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
Rossini would take on the leadership role as ASU faces significant challenges in its major sports following the resignation of Anderson in November. His hiring by Crow would likely be viewed with skepticism by a segment of the ASU community, given that Rossini has not worked at other schools or managed anything remotely close to such a significant operation.
Football is fresh off of the program's worst two-season stint since World War II and on probation after its recently reported negotiated resolution with the NCAA. Head coach Kenny Dillingham finished his debut season at a 3-9 record that matched the Sun Devils' wins and losses from the prior campaign, when Edwards stepped down three games in aftera historic upset loss to Eastern Michigan.
Men's basketball just wrapped up an underwhelming 14-18 season in which head coach Bobby Hurley struggled to replace three starters and two key rotational players from his 2022-23 NCAA Tournament team who chose to transfer out, with NIL as a generally major obstacle to talent retention — which Hurley has worked hard to address largely on his own in recent months.
Baseball has rallied of late but is still very much near the cut line for an NCAA Regionals appearance in Willie Bloomquist's third season after just barely missing the cut a year ago.
