By Harry Minium
Old Dominion University's Board of Visitors learned a lot at its June meeting that so many of us in the athletic department take for granted.
They learned that in spite of the time demands of practicing, playing sports, travel and offseason workouts, ODU's athletes outperform the general student body in the classroom.
More than 80 percent of athletes graduate, and a record seven of the 16 scholarship programs scored a perfect 1,000 on their multi-year NCAA APR ratings, which measures eligibility and retention of athletes.
All 16 scholarship teams had a 3.0 grade-point-average or higher this spring, with the average score being 3.47. That means the average athlete typically had an A grade for every B.
While the fact that classes were all online this spring may have skewed those scores upwards, it's clear ODU's athletes are getting it done in the classroom.
So, who gets the credit?
President John R. Broderick and Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's athletic director, deserve a huge share for making academic performance a priority for athletes.
ODU's academic support staff has played a major role in that success, including Dr. Ron Moses, ODU's associate athletic director for student-athlete services
So have the coaches, who recruit capable students and hold them accountable for going to class and doing their work, and the athletes, who actually do the work.
But one person has played an unheralded role in ODU's academic improvement – Randale Richmond, a 38-year-old Akron, Ohio native who is ODU's senior associate athletic director for compliance and student-athlete welfare.
He's a behind-the-scenes guy. Unless you're an athlete or the parent of an athlete, you've likely never heard of him, but he wears one of the biggest hats in ODU's athletic department.
He is responsible for NCAA compliance, the academic performance of ODU's 424 athletes and overseeing their mental and physical well-being. He's also the sports administrator for men's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, field hockey and men's and women's swimming.
He came to ODU in February of 2015, shortly after the University made the jump from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
"It was pretty apparent that in many ways we were still set up like an FCS school," Richmond said. "Our staff was too small. We needed more people and better infrastructure."
ODU also needed a new philosophy. The academic support staff was split into two camps.
One camp believed athletes should get academic support but was more committed to assisting them in monitoring of progress and reporting shortcomings. They were passive in their approach.
The other camp had what Richmond called a more assertive approach known as "proactive/intrusive advising," in which the academic support staff develops close relationships with athletes, frequently monitors grades and intervenes based on patterns of behavior and attitudes instead of waiting until an athlete has performed poorly.
Richmond greatly preferred proactive advising.
Randale Richmond with ESPN's Jay Harris
With the support of Selig and Deputy Athletic Director Ken Brown, Richmond reorganized the staff, hired more help and revamped the philosophy. All ODU's academic advisors were trained under the proactive advising approach and began to work aggressively to help athletes reach improve their academics.
"We are here to help student-athletes in every way that we can," Richmond said. "Everyone here needed to have that mentality.
"With a plan and the support of President Broderick and Wood, I was able to hire very talented people such as Ragean Hill (academics), Lamarr Pottinger (student-athlete development), and Scott Canner (compliance) who were key in the total revamping of our entire student-athlete services approach, especially Ragean with our academics."
Richmond said that a Conference USA compliance review shortly after he arrived pointed out other shortcomings and Selig says Richmond quickly addressed them all.
"He brought a cultural change throughout that entire division of athletics that we sorely needed," Selig said. "We needed to improve our academic performance, student-athlete welfare, compliance and outreach, and he improved them all."
Richmond was a football player who also ran track at Division III Baldwin-Wallace College and at 38, is as a young guy who understands the challenges young people face.
"He's gotten to know our coaches and student-athletes," Selig said. "He knows their families, their backgrounds, their stories. He's a great communicator and communicates high expectations.
"And he's built bridges across campus."
Richmond serves on the Brother 2 Brother Committee, a campus group of African Americans who rely on each other for counseling and academic support, as well as President Broderick's task force on inclusive excellence.
Last year, he received the John R. Broderick Champion Award to honor those who advance the principles of equity and diversity.
He's also built bridges for athletes seeking employment after college. Richmond has organized resume clinics, discussions on how to interview for a job as well as bringing potential employers on campus.
"Because Randale was a student-athlete, he understands the value of an education and the value of the experience you have while you're in college," said Dr. Jason Chandler, associate athletic director for strategic marketing and revenue generation.
"He's got a very good connection with athletes. He's very down to earth. They feel like they can approach him and his listens to them."
Nearly every university has a Student Athlete Advisory Council, an NCAA sanctioned group that is supposed to give athletes a voice when it comes to making policy and the welfare of athletes.
"A lot of colleges have SAAC organizations because they have to," Chandler said. "But some of them don't do anything more than just talk.
"Randale has empowered SAAC to do more than just talk, to take ideas and run with them."
Two of ODU's most recent SAAC leaders are playing leaderships roles both at ODU and in some cases on the national level.
Former football player Mufu Taiwo, the president in 2019-20, worked on the national level with NCAA football rules committee and served as an adviser to Conference USA. He also organized a recent march at ODU in support of Black Lives Matter, which was led by President Broderick and Lisa Smith, then rector of ODU's Board of Visitors.
Previous SAAC leader Sam Perelman, a former ODU men's tennis standout, served the last three years on the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which has given him a seat at the table when the NCAA has considered major rules changes.
Chandler said Richmond helped groom them both for their national roles.
Richmond is one of the first to arrive and last to leave work and works a ton of nights and weekends. He spends a lot of time with his family – wife, Ja'Alycia, sons, Ramahn and Ramar, and daughter, Jayla – but they spend a significant amount of that time at ODU events.
Look at Richmond's Twitter feed and you'll see a ton of selfies with his family on campus.
"Randale has an incredibly high work ethic," Selig said. "You know if he's going to put his name on anything, it's going to be done to the highest level possible."
Even when he pulls your name fromanannual Christmas gift exchange among senior ODU athletic administrators.
I drew Bruce Stewart's name. He's ODU's senior associate athletic director. Bruce is an immaculate dresser and a smart guy with an MBA and a law degree, both from Ohio State, so I got him a really cool tie.
Nice gift, but that didn't take a lot of thought.
Randale dug into my background. He read stories online and realized that I have an affinity for Virginia Tech that dates back 35 years. He also learned that one of the happiest times of my life was when I played football at Norview High School.
His gift was one of the most thoughtful I've ever received – a Virginia Tech-like maroon t-shirt with a photo of me on front wearing a Norview football jersey.
Richmond is perhaps the most playful of ODU's senior athletic administrators. He began the end-of-the-year ugly Christmas sweater contest. His Twitter feed is full of selfies with others on campus, including photos in which he makes fun of himself.
"He keeps the atmosphere light, Chandler said. "He's a pretty jovial guy. Even in staff meetings, when he gets up to talk to the staff, he will make a joke or even make fun of Wood" Selig.
Selig expects to lose Richmond, although he hopes not too soon.
"He's going to be an athletic director one day," Selig said.
"I don't think we have a more talented athletic administrator than Randale at ODU. He just gets it. He understands athletics in a way many people don't.
"You watch certain athletes and you just know they know the game. It's not just their talent and their intelligence. They have a great feel for the game.
"Randale has a great feel for athletic administration from the perspective of a coach, athlete, parent and administrator. We're so lucky to have him."
Indeed we are.
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu
Minium: Randale Richmond is One of The Secrets to Academic Success of ODU Athletes
