Bill Carr

Recognized as one of the nation's premier athletics administrators, William C. (Bill) Carr III completed four years as athletics director at the University of Houston in March 1997. He returned to executive search and management consultant activities for intercollegiate athletics where he is now in his eleventh year of creative and energetic service.

In May 1996, Carr was named to the NCAA Division I-A Management Council, a select group of national leaders responsible for working out details of the NCAA restructuring process and determining how the association would govern college athletics. Carr was selected for this important role by the Conference USA Presidents and Directors of Athletics.

Carr was instrumental in facilitating Houston's move from the Southwest Conference to Conference USA beginning in July 1996 and he headed C-USA's football expansion committee while at UH. During that period C-USA added The United States Military Academy and University of Alabama - Birmingham as new members.

Carr was named Houston's eighth athletics director April 16, 1993 after serving as president of Sports Resources Group, Inc. of Charlotte, NC, an intercollegiate athletics management and executive search consulting firm.  Prior to that, Carr had served as Vice President of Raycom Management Group, Inc. and as the Executive Director of The Center Foundation of Clearwater, Fl.

A University of Florida graduate, Carr was an All-America and All-Southeastern Conference center as a senior in 1966.  After stints with the NFL's New Orleans Saints and in the United States Army, Carr returned to his alma mater in 1970.  He served as assistant coach, academic advisor, and assistant to the athletic director before being named Director of Athletics in 1979 at the age of 33, the youngest AD in the country.

Carr's former staff members at Florida and Houston have gone on to great success in intercollegiate athletics and pro sports, earning positions as a Division I conference commissioner, athletics directors (eleven individuals), and as general manager of a professional sports franchise. His ability to select, motivate and develop people marked with excellence has been demonstrated repeatedly.

Gerald K. O'Dell

Utilizing his 22 years of intercollegiate leadership experience, Gerald K. O’Dell is in his fifth year as a management consultant for intercollegiate athletics. As a senior team member of Carr Sports Associates, Inc., his primary focus is on program assessments and strategic planning.

He played a leading role in events that shaped the future of Bearcat sports during his three and a half years as Director of Athletics over the University of Cincinnati’s 20-sport intercollegiate program. O’Dell helped guide UC’s entry into Conference USA, a much needed affiliation with a comprehensive conference which includes football, while placing Cincinnati among the upper echelon of institutions which have the greatest voice in the future governance of college athletics.

O’Dell’s efforts in strategic planning laid important groundwork for the University’s efforts to achieve greater equity, financial solvency and academic, as well as athletic, success in the UC intercollegiate program. The facilities master planning process focused on new resources for intramural, recreation and club sports as well as intercollegiate athletics, with the ultimate goal to improve the quality of life on the Cincinnati campus.

He distinguished himself as one of the rising young administrators throughout his leadership in higher education and intercollegiate athletics. He played a leading role in the organization of Conference USA, serving as the initial chair of three prestigious Conference USA committees: Finance, Football Athletics Directors and Long Range Planning, where he guided the drafting of the first strategic plan. He was a member of two NCAA certification peer review teams, and served on the Division I-A Athletics Directors’ Mission and Value Committee. Nationally, O’Dell was a member of the NCAA Division I Strategic Planning Cabinet.

O’Dell also served a seven-year tenure as Director of Athletics at Northern Illinois University (1987-1994), where he successfully guided NIU, which had no conference affiliation at the time of his arrival, into league membership. Due to his efforts to achieve gender equity, Northern Illinois University was ranked second among Division I-A institutions in the USA Today, 1992 survey of percentage of expenditures for women’s athletics.

As Director of Marketing and Promotions at the University of Minnesota (1984-1987), the University increased its season ticket base for football by 20,000 and the University’s successful collegiate trademark and licensing program was established.

O’Dell spent 11 years in the coaching ranks at Broken Arrow (Okla.) High (1973-74), University of Oklahoma (1975-1978), Iowa State University (1979-82) and the University of Minnesota (1983).

Lamar Daniel

Lamar Daniel, Inc. is a consultant for Gender Equity and Sports Management.  The company is dedicated to the identification, resolution and elimination of Title IX problems within an athletic program.  A confidential evaluation of a university athletic program is their specialty, although they are available for smaller assignments with fewer issues.

Lamar is a graduate of Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he majored in English and attended graduate school. He was employed with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in Atlanta for almost 21 years.  During this period, he personally conducted or supervised over 50 Title IX intercollegiate and 15 interscholastic investigations in eight southeastern states.  In 1978 he conducted one of the first comprehensive athletic investigations in the nation.  In 1980-81, he served as a principle trainer of all OCR staff in Denver, Colorado, and was a major contributor to the 1980 Title IX Athletic Investigators' Manual used by OCR from 1980-1990.  Lamar co-authored the 1990 Title IX Athletic Investigators' Manual, which is still in effect today.  From 1990-1994, Lamar headed a technical assistance unit at the Atlanta OCR.   In this capacity he provided Title IX athletic technical assistance to colleges and universities, university systems, state departments of education, school districts, high schools, and athletic interests groups.  Lamar is also available to testify as an expert witness and assist law firms in their defense of client institutions.

Lamar also is a member of the Carr Sports Associates team.  This group consist of former and current athletic directors who conduct feasibility studies for colleges and universities considering the addition of football as a varsity sport or who desire to move their football team from the Division I-AA to the Division I-A level.  Lamar assists this group by determining the Title IX impact of the addition or upgrading of football.  Carr Sports Associates has done many of these types of reviews.

While Lamar's client list is confidential, his current Division I clients include members of the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10 Conference, Big 12 Conference, Big East Conference, Mountain West Athletic Conference, Southern Conference, Conference USA, Missouri Valley Conference, Sun Belt Conference, Big West Conference, Big South Conference, Atlantic 10 Conference, Mid-American Conference, Colonial Athletic Conference, Trans America Conference, and Southland Conference.  In Division II and the NAIA, Lamar has one or more clients in the Sunshine State Conference, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Richard Konzem

Konzem was appointed Director of Athletics at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS in June 2006 where he directs 17 sports and 475 student-athletes.  He continues in his second year as a management consultant for intercollegiate athletics, Richard Konzem draws on his 23 years of intercollegiate athletics background and leadership experience.  Konzem’s primary focus is on financial forecasting, benchmarking, competitive analysis and Title IX compliance.  Konzem brings an extensive administrative, fund-raising, NCAA compliance and event management background to Carr Sports Associates.

During his career in the University of Kansas Athletic Department, Konzem served in a variety of capacities including interim athletic director.  As senior associate AD, he supervised men and women’s basketball, football, baseball, the Williams Educational Fund with $5 million in annual scholarship donations, athletic ticket staff and the events & facilities staff.  He was an integral part of the KU Athletics staff during six Final Four appearances in men’s basketball, three bowl games, and a College World Series in both baseball and softball.

Konzem concluded his career at the University of Kansas as Deputy Director of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.  Konzem oversaw the operations, scheduling and event management of the Dole Institute, Visitors Center and public programming during its first year of operation.  Additionally, Konzem was involved in fund-raising, donor relations, marketing and community outreach.

A Salina, Kan. native, Konzem graduated from KU in 1980 with a business degree and served as a student manager for the KU Track team.  He received a master’s degree in sports administration and worked in the athletic department at the University of Southern California in 1980-81. 

Konzem serves on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, Sunflower State Games, United Way of Douglas County and just completed an 8-year term on the City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.  He was a member of the 2004 Leadership Kansas class.  Konzem and his wife, Debbie, are chairs of the 2006 United Way Campaign in Lawrence.

Debra Primeaux Williamson, Ed.D.

Debbie Williamson currently teaches at North Carolina State University in the Department of Physical Education and serves as Coordinator of the Coaching Education Minor Program.  She holds bachelors and masters degrees in Education from Louisiana Tech University and received her Doctorate of Education from the University of Houston. 

Williamson has co-authored several publications and numerous published research abstracts in the field of physical education and sports marketing. Williamson’s publications and presentations have included topics such as spectator identification  at college and professional women’s basketball games and market demand variables associated with an intercollegiate women’s basketball conference tournament.

A women’s basketball and softball student-athlete at Louisiana Tech University, Williamson was a member of the final AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) Women’s Basketball National Championship team as well as a member of the first NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Women’s Basketball National Championship team.  Her women’s basketball teams at Louisiana Tech participated in four consecutive Final Fours.

Williamson has served as the head volleyball coach at Louisiana Tech University (1985-86), an assistant college basketball coach at Southeastern University (1986-1987) and Georgia Southern University (1987-1992) and the Senior Women’s Administrator at Georgia Southern (1992-1994).  She spent the last seven years as a college basketball official for 9 college conferences officiating staffs. In August 2006, Debbie was named the Secretary-Rules Editor for NCAA Women’s College Basketball and serves as the official interpreter of college women’s basketball rules. Williamson is married to Stan Williamson, Director of Athletics at Campbell University. They have three children, Courtney, Mark and Nathan and reside in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

Ed Pasque

Ed Pasque has worked with Carr Sports Associates over the past three years providing expertise on all matters related to NCAA legislation and membership requirements. Pasque is the Assistant Athletic Director for NCAA Compliance at Northern Illinois University.  Prior to joining Jim Phillips’s staff at NIU in June 2006, Pasque had been the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Academic Services at Campbell University since September 2003.  He joined the Campbell staff after spending a year at the University of West Florida, where he served as Assistant NCAA Compliance Officer and Assistant CHAMPS/Life Skills Coordinator. 
 
Pasque earned a B.A. in Psychology from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1992.  While at Eckerd, he played on the basketball team and set a school record for career three-point field goal shooting percentage.  He then embarked on a four-year stint in the United States Navy as Communications Supervisor for Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eleven, based in San Diego, Calif.  During his tenure, Pasque was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Navy Good Conduct Medal for exemplary military service.
 
Pasque earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 2001.  He was a member of the Berkeley International Law Journal in 1999 and was honored with the Prosser Award.  Following graduation, Pasque worked as an attorney with Foley and Lardner in Madison, Wisconsin, where he specialized in real estate, corporate and securities law.

In addition to his athletic department duties, Pasque is an adjunct professor of sports management. At NIU, he teaches graduate classes in sports finance and sports marketing.  At Campbell and West Florida, he taught undergraduate courses in sports law and athletics administration.