College athletics is a fast-paced and crazy business that has individuals moving from institution to institution regularly.
As such, for the second time in two years, Director of Athletics Michael Cross found himself without an Athletic Director (AD) for External Affairs, as Heidi Wegmueller announced that she would be moving to a different institution.
After a very thorough yet quick, job search, Cross announced in June that Bradley would hire Brett Burchette as Associate AD for External Affairs.
Originally from Indiana, Burchette has a long résumé that has led him back to the Missouri Valley Conference after spending time at Indiana State. Burchette also has taught and received his doctoral degree from Drexel University where he was an assistant professor for Drexel’s sport management program.
Burchette said he grew up wanting to be a coach, but his path as a coach at Eastern University made him love the inner-workings of collegiate athletic programs even more.
“I wanted a job when I was an undergrad that would make a difference and that I would enjoy coming to,” Burchette said. “I loved sports, so my initial thought was to go into coaching, but after coaching at the college level, I realized that I wanted to one day become an athletic director.”
Burchette now oversees marketing and promotions, ticket operations and the Braves Club, while serving as the Braves’ representative to the Bradley Sports Properties corporate sales team. With that in mind, Burchette said he has two main objectives for his job here.
“At the end of the day I’m tasked with two main things: growing our fan base and generating revenue for the department,” Burchette said.
Within that fan base, Bradley students play a very large role. It is no secret that student turnout has declined over the years. Burchette said students play an essential part because of what they bring to each event, not only as fans, but as employees.
Currently, the athletic department employs nearly 80 students in fields ranging from merchandising and sponsorship to creative design and production. These students not only contribute to Bradley Athletics, but also gain useful skills to bulk up their résumés.
“I think for us to sustain our success and grow our success, we need even more student involvement than we already have,” Burchette said. “Students bring an energy and an enthusiasm to the atmosphere that families or members of the community can’t bring.”
As wins and losses are one of the main problems students often suggest to the turnout issue, Burchette said he knows that wins are a great tool to market, but that Bradley is close to getting over the hump of being successful on every athletic platform.
“Trust me, I know that the fans and supporters want wins and make final fours now,” Burchette said. “It takes a little time, but I think that our successes are right around the corner for us. So people’s patience and their willingness to remain faithful and supportive will pay off because there will be a time in the near future when people will want to jump on the Bradley bandwagon.”
The journey may have been a long and tiring one for Burchette and his family, but the new AD for External Affairs is ushering in a new era of success and prosperity for Bradley athletics.
