St. John’s has employed former Fordham athletic director and New York native Ed Kull as its new athletic director, the personal Catholic college introduced Wednesday.
Ed Kull graduated with an MBA from St. John’s Tobin Faculty of Enterprise in 2005
“Ed Kull has demonstrated a dedication to excellence on and off the taking part in area,” mentioned St. John’s President, the Rev. Brian J. Shanley.
“This is a crucial appointment at a pivotal time within the altering panorama of faculty sports activities, and I’m happy to have Ed rejoin our staff.”
Kull grew up in Queens, not removed from St. John’s, and was a star baseball participant at Stony Brook College on Lengthy Island. He graduated in 2003 with a BA. Kull additionally labored as an assistant at Carnesecca Enviornment. Two years later, he graduated with an MBA from St. John’s Tobin Faculty of Enterprise.
We’re excited to welcome Ed Kull again to Queens as the brand new Director of Athletics! 🔴🌩
🗞️https://t.co/Fi3gSLtUfb photo.twitter.com/riRKF7YMi0
— St. John’s Purple Storm (@StJohnsRedStorm) September 11, 2024
“To say that is the dignity of my skilled life can be an understatement,” Kull mentioned. “I perceive that the work forward won’t be simple, however I imagine wholeheartedly that we are going to use no matter sources are needed to revive St. John’s to its pure place on the prime of the school athletic panorama.”
St. John’s has been with out an athletic director since Mike Cragg, and the varsity mutually agreed to half methods after he spent six years on the Large East faculty. Kull was talked about as one among SJU’s prime candidates to supervise basketball coach Rick Pitino’s employees.
Kull has labored at Fordham since April 2020
He left school sports activities for a number of years earlier than returning to St. John’s from 2011 to 2017, the place he served as vice chair of athletics, engaged on income tasks for the college’s president.
“I’m excited to welcome Ed again residence to St. John’s,” mentioned Joseph Oliva, senior vice chairman and chief working officer. “We have now had an excellent working relationship up to now. Ed has the expertise and drive to attain athletic objectives. His ardour and love for St. John’s … will assist rework our athletic division.”
Kull had been at Fordham since April 2020. He took over the full-time put up in February 2021. Below Kull, Fordham’s males’s basketball program loved some success underneath the 2 coaches he employed, Kyle Neptune and Keith Urgo. Neptune left after one season to return to Villanova and change Jay Wright as head coach.
Earlier than Kull employed Neptune, the Rams had gone 45-95 over the previous 5 seasons, together with a 2-12 mark in 2020-21. In his lone 12 months on the helm, Neptune led the Rams to a 16-16 mark and an look within the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals for the primary time in 15 years.
Urgo led the Rams to their finest season in three a long time in 2022-23. Fordham’s soccer staff made the FCS playoffs in 2022. Moreover, the Rams have earned convention titles and NCAA berths in water polo, males’s soccer, softball and girls’s tennis underneath Kull.
Kull additionally was good to Fordham Athletics’ fundraising. The Rams completed their third straight fiscal 12 months with file fundraising, together with $7.6 million in 2023-24. It was up greater than $2.5 million from the 12 months earlier than.