Tag: Ray Anderson

Arizona State ends its season with no AD, but Ray Anderson is still around

This is different.

The news just keeps coming in college sports, and one notable story from a few weeks ago involved the Pac-12 Conference. Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson, who had been the subject of some questionable decisions, decided to step down from that particular post, per the release from the program.

Anderson released a lengthy statement as well: “It has been a privilege to serve as ASU’s athletic director for nearly a decade,” he said. “We have entered an unprecedented era where the number and magnitude of changes in the college sports landscape are astounding. As I approach my seventh decade of life, these are not matters that my leadership would be able to corral during my tenure. Continuity of leadership will be needed, and I am choosing to step aside to let the university find that leader.”

Anderson’s time as Arizona State AD comes to an end just months after the Sun Devils decided to move to the Big 12 Conference in 2024, and his comments sure made the Sun Devils an enemy before playing their first game in the new conference.

A year after hiring Kenny Dillingham as the Sun Devils’ new coach, Arizona State is suddenly in search of another athletic director, although most fans will be relieved by this move.

However, there’s a plot twist here:

In the story from the Arizona Republic, it is noted that while “Ray Anderson resigned from his role as Arizona State’s athletic director earlier this week, (he) will remain as a professor of practice and senior adviser for the sports law and business program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law.

“He will also continue to make the same salary he made as ASU’s AD in his reduced role, according to a report.”

Ray Anderson is gone from the athletic department, but not Arizona State. As the Sun Devils end their 2023 football season this weekend, one wonders what new development will come from Tempe.

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Arizona State quickly makes itself public enemy No. 1 for other Big 12 schools

Shockingly insensitive remarks from Arizona State AD Ray Anderson have already infuriated #WestVirginia fans. #HailWV #Big12

Big 12 schools and fan bases are quickly learning about their new members. They are quickly learning why Arizona State has not been particularly successful in football in recent years.

Big 12 fans are getting to know what Phoenix residents have known for a long time: Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson is not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Anderson, for absolutely zero good reason, said over the weekend: “I promise I’m not going to Morgantown,” a reference to ASU road trips to West Virginia, one of the longer commutes the Sun Devils and their athletic teams will have to make within the Big 12 Conference. This follows remarks made by ASU President Michael Crow about being very disappointed the Sun Devils couldn’t stay in the Pac-12 and that the Pac-12 couldn’t be preserved. Crow was a steadfast defender of Larry Scott and was deeply invested in saving the Pac-12.

Arizona State doesn’t like being in the Big 12, but Anderson’s shockingly insensitive comments have already transformed the Sun Devils from “unhappy neighbor” to “vocal troublemaker and bomb-thrower.” West Virginia fans are irate. Other Big 12 fan bases are raising their eyebrows and wondering why these guys were ever invited into the conference.

Here’s a sample of the very emotional reactions which greeted Ray Anderson’s incredibly dumb public comments: