[ UH ATHLETICS ]
McNamara completes
Frazier’s team
John McNamara, Conference USA's associate commissioner for external affairs, has been approved by the Board of Regents as the new associate athletic director at the University of Hawaii.
The official announcement was to be made this morning by UH athletic director Herman Frazier. The regents approved McNamara as the A.D. for external affairs late yesterday afternoon during the board's monthly meeting at Bachman Hall.
McNamara was the only name submitted to the board by Frazier for consideration. The UH search committee had narrowed the selection to five finalists and had face-to-face interviews with two before choosing McNamara as its nominee.
The 41-year-old McNamara is expected to start his new job next month. The Ohio native currently resides in Chicago, where the 15-team Conference USA has its headquarters.
"John's a guy we sorely need because of his experience in areas that we are lacking," Tom Sadler, UH associate athletic director for facilities, said prior to McNamara's approval. "It would be a huge plus for us. He is that good."
The 1985 University of Toledo graduate is in his fifth year with C-USA, overseeing marketing, media relations, advertising, merchandising, promotions and licensing. He also serves as the conference's television liaison to ESPN, ESPN Regional and Fox Sports Net; is the executive director of the C-USA Television Network, and is the director of the conference men's basketball tournament.
McNamara is familiar with Hawaii and Frazier. He was the associate commissioner for the Western Athletic Conference (1995-99) and became acquainted with Frazier while the Hawaii athletic director was the A.D. at C-USA school Alabama-Birmingham.
McNamara was also assistant commissioner of the Mid-American Conference (1988-91), where he coordinated the conference's external affairs, including television, marketing and advertising.
McNamara began his professional career as an assistant sports information director at Toledo. When he was promoted to head SID in 1988 at age 25, he was the youngest at the NCAA Division I level.
McNamara graduated from Toledo with a bachelor of arts degree in communications, specializing in TV broadcasting with a minor in political science.
The UH position was advertised with a salary range topping out at $108,000.
McNamara visited the UH campus last month and attended the Rainbow Wahine volleyball match against BYU. He joins Sadler and Marilyn Moniz-Kaho'ohanohano as associate athletic directors at the Manoa campus and completes Frazier's top-level management team.