Outgoing Penn State athletics director Sandy Barbour may be going into retirement with a crowning achievement on her résumé. Barbour has been named a finalist for the Sports Business Journal’s Sports Business AD of the Year Award by the Sports Business Journal. And for Barbour, the hope is that the third time will be the charm.
Barbour has been a finalist for one of the nation’s top individual awards for an athletics director twice before, including once during her tenure at Penn State. Barbour was a finalist for the award in 2009 while at Cal and in 2018 at Penn State.
Penn State’s athletics department as a whole has been tremendously successful in a wide range of areas. The football program and basketball programs may not have the wins to showcase the past two years, but the wrestling program is coming off its ninth national title in the past 11 years and the athletics program saw five teams win conference or tournament championships including women’s soccer, wrestling, women’s hockey, men’s volleyball, and men’s soccer. Penn State finished the 2021 season in fifth place for the Learfield Directors’ Cup.
Penn State is also in the early stages of a massive renovation project to various athletics facilities, including long-overdue upgrades to Beaver Stadium.
Last week it was announced that Barbour will be retiring from her position as director of athletics at Penn State later this summer, likely coinciding with the end of the fiscal year for the university.
[mm-video type=video id=01fsdjmvkbqtq16mf3bv playlist_id=01ey902ehrs6e9bvhw player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fsdjmvkbqtq16mf3bv/01fsdjmvkbqtq16mf3bv-5a1f8cf3679d7ec39d53a0890364af04.jpg]
[listicle id=17584]
[vertical-gallery id=17562]
[lawrence-related id=17598,17596,17579,17574,17543]
Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.
Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.