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Five-Plus Questions: Lee De Leon

De Leon and his wife Lacey and sons Landon (age 6) and Luke (3) are ready to ready to enjoy the Purdue experience.
De Leon and his wife Lacey and sons Landon (age 6) and Luke (3) are ready to ready to enjoy the Purdue experience.

Just 10 days or so into his new job as executive senior associate athletics director/assistant vice president for development, Lee De Leon (pronounced DAY LEE ON) feels comfortable in his new surroundings.

De Leon, who started at Purdue June 25, served as athletics director at Abilene Christian since November of 2014. At the time of his hiring at ACU, he was the youngest athletic director in the country.

In three-and-a-half years, De Leon, now 36, made an impact growing annual revenue by over 80 percent and increased his operating budget by nearly half that. He relaunched the Wildcat Club, the official fundraising arm of ACU and grew it to nearly 1,000 members in just two years.

Prior to joining the Abilene Christian staff, De Leon served as a member of the senior staff at three Division I/FBS institutions — New Mexico, Arizona and Houston.

A native of Houston, De Leon earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from Notre Dame in 2004 and a master's degree in sport management from Texas A&M in 2005.

We caught up with him earlier this week for a couple more than five questions:

GoldandBlack.com : What attracted you to Purdue?

De Leon: "There were a lot of things that attracted me to Purdue, especially right now. It starts with the momentum around Purdue athletics and the success that we are having across the board, which is really impressive.

"Secondly, it's the chance to work for a guy like Mike Bobinski, a fellow Notre Dame grad who I admire and respect and think I can learn a lot from and (deputy AD) Jason Butikofer, who has been a friend of mine for a long time. I really like the direction that they are taking this program in and the vision that they have. Lastly, the thing that I missed the most while I was at Abilene Christian was the die-hard, passionate fan base. At ACU, they love their school but that doesn’t necessarily translate to the love of their teams. At Purdue, obviously, people have a lot of school pride, but they have a lot of team pride. That's why they sell out just about every basketball game and why there will be 50,000 fans at a football game this year. That’s exciting to me.

"I was not a student-athlete, I was not a coach, I was a fan and that’s what I’m drawn to. It's what got me started in this industry."

GoldandBlack.com: What prompted you to give up being an AD and how does it fit into your long-term plans?

De Leon: 'Its interesting, there’s a lot of Division I athletic directors at small schools, like Jason (at Southern Utah) and myself, who have left those jobs to take a support role at a Power 5 conference school. The reasoning there is to help me have an opportunity to become an athletic director at a Power 5 school, that's a great academic institution, probably in the South close to home. To get a job like that I need Power 5 leadership experience. I’ve been at Power 5 schools before starting as an intern 13 years ago at LSU, and as an assistant AD at Arizona but I have not been in a high-level senior staff position at a Power 5 school. That was a gaping hole in my résumé.

"I’m excited to learn how the 'sausage is made' at this level. I think Mike and Jason will be great people for me to learn from. To give you comparison, Abilene Christian’s total athletic budget is about $15 million and Purdue’s is over $90 million, it’s just a totally different ballgame here."

GoldandBlack.com: How does being a former AD help in the Purdue job?

De Leon: "I understand the big picture better than I ever have. The job before ACU was very similar to this job. I was in charge of athletic fundraising at New Mexico. Now that I have spent three-and-a-half years as an AD, I better understand how fundraising, revenue generation works into the bigger scheme. I think I have a better understanding of what an athletic director wants and needs, and I can support Mike better. I think I have a better understanding of what head coaches want and need and I can support them better. I have a much broader depth of understanding of what it takes to run a successful athletic department and how all the moving parts work together and how a successful fundraising organization can improve the entire organization. It’s just helped me think bigger picture and not be such a one-trick pony."

GoldandBlack.com What is your assessment of the JPC, considering it has been around for 60 years and is so entrenched?

De Leon: "It's funny that you say that because I have a stack of John Purdue Club brochures staring at me right now and I’m going to spend the afternoon looking over them, reading them and understanding them. Each athletic fundraising organization at each school is different. There’s a lot of moving parts to our organization. Right now, I’m just trying to understand it all, wrap my brain around it and make sure I understand exactly how the organization works.

"We’re not going to be changing anything any time soon because I’m trying to figure it out and understand it and just be a sponge. This is a really unique and special place and I’m trying to understand the history of it, understand the uniqueness of it. I actually scheduled a campus tour this afternoon, so I’m going to learn more about the campus, the academics, the history of Purdue University and I’m excited to do that.

There will be an opportunity, a time and place, to make some tweaks here and there. The John Purdue Club raised 41 million dollars this past fiscal school year so they’re doing a lot of things right, there’s not much that needs to be changed. It’s my job to come in and provide vision and direction and make sure that our whole staff and organization is pulling the rope in the same direction."

GoldandBlack.com: What is the athletic fundraising environment like in the world of big television contracts?

De Leon: "The Big Ten television money is a game-changer for this entire league. However, we still have scholarships to pay, we still have facilities to build and renovate and to pay for those enhancements. While the television money helps, there’s always more money to raise in the current world of college athletics, (in order to) keep up with the Joneses. Everyone else in our league right now is investing. Look at what Minnesota is doing with their athletic village. I know Illinois is strongly investing in their program. So how are we keeping up with them? It’s the other money (outside of television) that you have to raise and generate that’s going to allow you to get more than your peers, more than your competition.

"I've been at a lot of schools and very few of them can say what Purdue says as far as being self-sufficient. The only way that we can do that is with the support of the John Purdue Club and our very generous members."

GoldandBlack.com You had the chance to meet Jeff Brohm last week. What was your first impression?

De Leon: "He is incredibly impressive while being down to earth, authentic and genuine. I ran into him at the weight room, he was with his family, and he stopped everything he was doing and talked to me. He introduced me to his family and introduced me to the other coaches that were in the weight room. It just immediately made me feel welcome and a part of the Boilermaker family and I’m very grateful for that. He is a very well-respected coach in our industry. He’s very low-maintenance, that’s rare in today’s world of college football. He obviously still drives the same car he’s been driving for years and that’s a well-known fact. I’ve seen it in the parking lot and that impresses me. The guy has no ego, he just wants to win football games. He’s a good team player, he understands the big picture. There’s a lot of coaches, especially at big-time football programs, that make it all about them and Jeff doesn’t do that. He kind of stays to himself, willing to help. So, I’m thrilled to have the chance to work with him."

GoldandBlack.com: What should someone that’s meeting you for the first time know about you?

De Leon: "I love college sports and I love people. I am so excited to get to work in big-time college sports and have the opportunity to build genuine relationships. I share your passion for college athletics. I have a Rivals subscription, just like your members do. I pay attention. I grew up in this industry, this is all I’ve ever known. I’ve worked in college sports for 13 years and I have loved every second of it and plan on spending my entire career in this industry. I am humbled and honored to be a part of Purdue athletics and look forward to helping take John Purdue Club to the next level."

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