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UB names Allen Greene its new Athletic Director

courtesy UB Athletics

It didn't take long for the University at Buffalo to find its successor to departing athletics director Danny White. Allen Greene, who worked directly under White at UB since 2012, has been promoted to the post.

Greene was formally introduced by UB president Satish Tripathi at a news conference Tuesday morning inside the Murchie Family Center inside the football stadium. He is praised for his work including direct involvement in the elevation of UB's football and men's and women's basketball programs.

He has also played an active role in key marketing and capital projects for the department. It is his existing knowledge of the university, its athletics and the greater community that has Greene feeling ready for his new role.

Among his highest priorities is overseeing the completion of a field house. He would not provide a timeline for the project but did say that conversations with other stakeholders have already been held behind the scenes.

He also acknowledged the challenge of raising funds to support the department, especially in a region where sports fans may first think about the two major league teams, the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres.

"Fundraising is critical. It's very critical, especially as state budgets are shrinking and the support of higher education is shrinking," he said. "That's a huge component."

He was part of the staff that oversaw programs which enjoyed postseason competition including the football team's appearance in the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the men's basketball team's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and the women's basketball team's first-ever NIT Tournament appearance.

Two of those programs - football and men's basketball - have changed head coaches within the past twelve months. Greene said in his introductory news conference that he sees no major shift in direction for the athletics department. 

"They have an understanding of what the expectations are, how I'm going to operate in terms of philosophy," Greene said. "I think the continuity of leadership is very important, particularly for those two programs."

Greene's new position officially begins December 12. His soon-to-be-former boss, Danny White, created some controversy when his rebranding of the athletics department included a new logo putting more emphasis on "New York." Greene was asked whether he'd explore a change. The university's president, speaking to reporters a short while later, explained that the entire university - its athletics programs included - is currently undergoing a branding review.

"As we come up with the new recommendations of the branding, we're going to look at everything we do," Dr. Tripathi said. "Whether one of the schools is using a different logo... it's going to be look at for the entire campus, actually."

A native of Washington State, Greene played numerous sports and was an outfielder for the University at Notre Dame. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1998 and played four years of professional baseball in the minor or independent leagues.

Michael Mroziak is an experienced, award-winning reporter whose career includes work in broadcast and print media. When he joined the WBFO news staff in April 2015, it was a return to both the radio station and to Horizons Plaza.
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