2008 Woodie Awards
Chancellor approves Red Wolves as new mascot
Sarah Morris
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: News
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The announcement came after a Jan. 30 recommendation of either the Wolves or a variation of it from the ASU Mascot Steering Committee. Chancellor Robert Potts said that no other four-year university had the Red Wolves as a mascot, while the more generic, Wolves, was used at various other universities. "The red wolf is a noble species that once inhabited (Arkansas)," Potts said. He cited them as being vicious and aggressive.
The new mascot imagery is to be unveiled at 11 a.m. Thursday on the east side of the ASU Student Union. The roll out ceremony is to include guest speakers Morgan Pippin, president of the Student Government Association, and Corey Leonard, quarterback of the football team. In case of bad weather, the ceremony will be held at the Student Union center court.
ASU's athletic teams will be competing as the Red Wolves at the beginning of the 2008-2009 academic year, according to a press release.
Potts also announced to the board that the search for new men's basketball coach is still underway. ASU's previous head coach, Dickey Nutt, resigned Feb. 19 after 13 years in the position. It was effective immediately.
Assistant coaches Al Grushkin and Shawn Forrest are currently acting as co-interim head coaches. "We hope to move rapidly, but we do not want to rush this decision, because we feel this is an important decision for our campus and others across the state," Potts said.
ASU officials are still in the process of talking to potential candidates, and Potts said he hoped to "within the next few days bring those talks to a conclusion."
An announcement is hoped to be made before the Final Four is played, though Potts said it is "more important to get the right person than to make a deadline."
Whoever is hired is hoped to be a "national class coach, and that is what we are looking for; someone that can lift the ASU's men's basketball team to a new level," Potts said.
In other news, the board heard reports from President Les Wyatt and the four chancellors, including Potts. Potts said the campus' spring semester enrollment of 10,369 is an all time high for ASU and is an increase of 3.6 percent from spring 2007. The preliminary first-time enrollment numbers of 8,172 increased by the same percentage from 7,822 in the spring 2007.
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