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The University of Nebraska at Omaha has a new athletic director. The school announced on Monday Adrian Dowell will succeed Trev Alberts as the leader of UNO’s athletic department.
To do that, he’ll leave a job down the road at Creighton University, where he served as the assistant vice president and associate athletic director for the school.
Dowell said at Monday's news conference he admires his predecessor Alberts, who made the move south to Lincoln this past July. Dowell said conventional wisdom may have told him to not follow Alberts.
"I heard that over the past few weeks, obsessively," he said. "But, actually, I have a different perspective on that. I do consider myself a little bit of a builder, right, and I would tell you I would rather build on a solid foundation.”
The Virginia native joined Creighton in 2014. Previously, he studied and worked at West Virginia University. Dowell also played Division III basketball in his home state at Roanoke College.
“Adrian Dowell is a true Maverick," Chancellor Joanne Li said in a statement. "He is a dynamic individual who inspires a winning attitude in others and has proven to be a transformational presence in Division I athletics."
Noah Sullivan, a junior hockey player, said on Monday he has just one simple request of the new athletic director.
“I’ve gotten to see Chancellor Li and President Carter skate, and I need to see the new athletic director skate as well to see if they can stay with her.” The crowd responded in laughter.
Sullivan represents one of UNO athletics' prized possessions: hockey. The Maverick men’s team has been on the climb the past couple of years, making the NCAA hockey tournament last season. This past week, the Mavs split games with No. 2 St. Cloud State University.
And while Dowell may be new to managing hockey, he is not new to athletic fundraising, which has been a large focus of his career in college athletics. At Creighton, according to Dowell's bio, he oversaw all fundraising efforts. Dowell will start as UNO’s AD in two weeks.