TicketsJuly 5, 2006
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- President Flavius Killebrew announced Monday, July 3, that former University of Cincinnati Associate Athletics Director Brian Teter has accepted the position of director of athletics at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Teter becomes the second athletic director in Islander history."Brian Teter exemplifies the type of leadership we have been seeking to lead us into this new, exciting era of Islander athletics," said Killebrew. "With the University's entrance into the Southland Conference, the athletics program is poised to make its mark in NCAA Division I sports and sustain the University's reputation for excellence that our academic and research programs have already established."
As associate athletics director at the University of Cincinnati, Teter's duties included coordinating media relations, developing marketing and promotional plans, corporate sponsorships, licensing, and serving as a liason to the president's office. He graduated from Illinois State University in 1985 with a degree in mass communications and, after earning a master's in athletic administration in 1987, was named ISU's assistant sports information director.
In 1990 he became an assistant in the sports information departments at Indiana University and from 1991 through 1994 served as sports information director at Miami (Ohio) University. After nine years as associate commissioner of Conference USA, he joined the University of Cincinnati staff in 2003.
"This is an exciting position that gives me the opportunity to be part of something really special," said Teter. "A&M-Corpus Christi already has some outstanding facilities and programs and the improvement of existing facilities can become a reality with effective planning models. It is vital that Islander student athletes be able to compete in first-class venues that will give the athletics program and the Institution the opportunity to recruit high-quality student athletes from the region, state and throughout the nation to the beautiful Island University."
Teter takes over a program that has been steadily expanding since being reinstated in 1997. The first Islander teams to compete in NCAA Division I were fielded in 1998, and, four years later, A&M-Corpus Christi became a full-fledged NCAA Division I member. Today, A&M-Corpus Christi competes in 14 varsity sports including men's and women's basketball, volleyball, softball, baseball, men's and women's tennis, women's golf, men's and women's cross country, and men's and women indoor/outdoor track and field.
While Islander teams will begin competing against other Southland Conference schools this fall, the University's men's tennis team has competed as an affiliate member since 2004 and has won conference regular season and tournament championships outright in 2004 and 2005, while sharing the regular-season crown this spring. The Southland Conference earns automatic qualification to NCAA championships in football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, men's golf, men's and women's track and field, men's and womens tennis, and women's soccer. Women's golf does not yet have a women's qualifier.
The Southland Conference Texas members include Lamar University, Sam Houston State University, Stephen F. Austin University, Texas State University, University of Texas at Arlington, and University of Texas at San Antonio. Louisiana institutions include McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, and Southeastern Louisiana University. Central Arkansas joined the Southland with the Islanders on July 1 to give the league 12 teams.