PHOTO GALLERY
By: Pasquale Tartaro, GoPSUSports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State introduced Dr. Patrick Kraft as its next Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and director of athletics on Friday.
"This is a really humbling moment for me," Kraft said. "This is a dream come true. It's hard to render me speechless, but I feel that in this moment."
Kraft's term is set to begin July 1. The former administrator at Boston College and Temple will replace Sandy Barbour, who announced her retirement in March after leading the Nittany Lions' athletic department since 2014.
"I wanted someone who understood the legacy of Penn State and understood that we are a place where the student-athlete truly comes first," President-elect Neeli Bendapudi said. "Both the student and the athlete aspects of their lives."
"College sports allows us…to transform young men and young women's lives," Kraft said. "I don't take that responsibility lightly."
Throughout his tenure at Boston College, Kraft made positive impacts such as hiring men's basketball coach Earl Grant and supervising the women's lacrosse team's national title run — the Eagles' first national championship by a women's team.
Moreover, Kraft helped Boston College raise more than $80 million. The Eagles also ranked among the nation's top 10 in overall graduation rate in all sports, with nearly 70 percent of Boston College's student-athletes earning a 3.00 GPA or better in 2021.
"We wanted a demonstrated record of someone who acts with the highest integrity," Bendapudi said. "Penn State…is a destination job, so we knew that we needed an experienced leader."
Kraft, who spent five years as Temple's athletic director and was a walk-on linebacker at Indiana, brings familiarity with both the Big Ten, as well as experience in what it's like to be a student-athlete.
"For me, having been a former college student-athlete and as a sport administrator my passion is for the student-athlete," Kraft said. "Their experience is paramount. Everything will start and stop with the student-athlete and their experience here at Penn State."
Moreover, Kraft's diverse track record includes a Ph.D in sport management, tenures at Loyola University Chicago and Indiana University and seven years as an athletic director.
Kraft was one of the youngest athletic directors in the country when Temple promoted him at the age of 37 in May of 2015. Now, he will take over one of the biggest athletic departments in the country, as Penn State sponsors 31 sports
"We are 31 strong," Kraft said in regards to Penn State's 31 varsity teams. "Make no bones about it, I'm here to win. We are here to win."
At Boston College, Kraft secured a $15 million gift for a new basketball practice facility and helped raise more than $10 million for athletics scholarships, financial aid, and support programs.
Additionally, Temple set fundraising records for five consecutive years under Kraft, who helped plan and fundraise for $55 million in construction and renovation projects at athletics facilities.
"This is an accomplished administrator with a 20-year career in intercollegiate athletics," Bendapudi said. "Someone whose led an NCAA Division I program with 31 varsity teams, has been a champion for academic excellence, and advocate for coaches and staff."
"We will have success with honor," Kraft said. "And make no bones about it now, I talked to the coaches: I'm here to win. I'm here to win. And we are going to win."
