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I S P O R T S
  J . .,%,_»  ._ .       ._   ._ _;   ,    i€_ ._ The Jerry Claiborne Todd Names Advisory Group
f    _ ` ’»~» Way Dedication ID AD Hiring Process
§     e A dedication ceremony was A small group of community leaders, former
 -3   Hi- I   held for "The Jerry Claiborne athletes and UK faculty are assisting in the
j MORM   DH   Way" unveiling of the new process of hiring an athletics director for the
  ‘ Q ij   ” I {— ,v { iff, greet pigngts intersection with University of Kentucky Athletics Depart-
! Qty, - { _f·,‘ - ‘ , ,o___ gg,. Jl _4r, ,;,,,,;;;»= omp ex rive. ment.
j _ ` JRE ·_ij_   ii,i;   Representing the This group will advise UK President Lee T
j ..r.r `  , M       Claiborne family, George Todd Jr. in selecting a national search firm,
  - "    ij    Claiborne, Jeny’s brother, developing the criteria desired in the next
‘  .~ ii»e   ··,,i   · ff   I " said,"When Jerry resigned at athletics director, identifying candidates for
  I   ," A I · ‘ I ri   ‘   _ ,_   Maryland to come to Ken- the position, and providing input on the can-
V ;‘ M "   ,._;. , tt   ’ Qi e—·s ` ·;i i‘,_,     E tucky I said, ‘What in the didates
  , ._ , - Y   H ,5    K   ‘ [ world are you thinking "I will ultimately make the decision on
’ _  ` ‘··»_&  Yj ` is Z . . _,,, , ,,,-   .. about?’ He had developed a who we will hire as the next athletics director,
  ’?  ,   . __,_     real strong program in Mary- but I feel it is extremely important to get in-
j E  w i   ’ J _ F  , j ( gig   ‘ land and he said, ‘You don’t put into that process," said Todd. "This advi-
i     »   ;_,   , {   know how hard I work at this, sory group is an extremely strong collection
1 ia, ~ Q . e`  V " »  ~      I feel guilty not doing it at the of individuals who represent our community,
;   I _ . ` °‘“’‘t‘ i   University I am so fond of’ athletics and our university. They understand
  3, __;  . 'ii`` F   "He did a great job of the needs and demands of this position and I
    ’ _ ` · bringing our program back at appreciate them giving of their time to assist
  i--J · Kentucky. Representing our the University in this process"
family and his family is a great The advisory group includes Mira Ball,
3 honor. If there is a right way, the Jerry Claiborne way is as close to it as community leader, former chair of the
  anybody can get. We are mighty proud of him." Greater Lexington Chamber of Commerce
’ and owner of Ball Homes; Sam Bowie,
,   former basketball letterman at UK and NBA
 ; star and now a Lexington businessman;
  Paul Orberson Football Office Complex Open Pemiontti Dglgonhfcggifr f<><>tb311
` etterman at an star an now a
‘ You will find the UK football coaches hangin’ with the players on a Lexington businessman; John R. Hall, former
( more regular basis now. It’s not that they were anti-social, it’s just football letterman at Vanderbilt University,
r that the busy student-athletes and coaches never crossed paths un- retired CEO and Chairman of Ashland Inc.,
1 less one or the other went out of his way to get together. All that and currently a director of Bank One and
changed with a gift from Paul Orberson and a dream for the football president of the McDowell Cancer Founda-
offices to be located in the Ervin I Nutter Training Facility tion; Garrett Headley, former wrestling
The new Paul Orberson Football Office Complex, which is an ex- letterman at UK, president of the K Associa-
. pansion of the Nutter Training Facility, includes group meeting tion and a Lexington stockbroker; Claire
rooms for the coaching staff, a much—needed expansion of space for Pomeroy, member of the UK faculty in the
the UK video operation, and state-of-the—art technology for coaches’ College of Medicine and a faculty representa-
film evaluation in their offices. tive to the Board of Trustees; and Gerald
Fund—raising for the project began in January 1999 when Smith, member of the UK History Depart-
Orberson made the founding pledge of $1.6 million to add football ment faculty, director of the UK African
offices to the N utter Training Facility. Construction began in 2000. American Studies and Research Program
The building was completed in February 2002 and the coaches and faculty representative to the UK Athletic
moved from Commonwealth Stadium to their new offices before Association board.
spring practice. An entrepreneur from Kentucky, Orberson had Todd has said he expects to make the ap-
enormous success with Excel Communications Recently, he began a pointment before classes start in August.
 ; new enterprise, Fortune Hi—Tech Marketing Inc.
 ( In addition to Orberson’s gift, the N utter family also made a do-
i nation toward the construction of the facility The Nutter family has
been the major benefactor for two UK football buildings, the Nutter
Training Facility (completed in 1987) and the Nutter Field House
I (completed in 1993). Mary and Bob Nutter, Melinda and Ken
. Nutter, and Zoe Nutter attended the dedication.
. KENTUCKY ALUMNUS 47