MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard and two-time NBA All-Star Michael Finley are part of the nine-person search committee to help select Wisconsin’s next athletic director.
Wisconsin announced the committee members Monday. Incoming Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots is leading the search process because Jennifer Mnookin’s tenure as chancellor will end Saturday ahead of her taking over as Columbia University’s president on July 1.
Marcus Sedberry is serving as Wisconsin’s interim athletic director while the school looks for a permanent successor to Chris McIntosh, who stepped down last month to accept a newly created position as the Big Ten’s deputy commissioner for strategy. Sedberry had been Wisconsin’s deputy athletic director/chief operating officer before accepting this assignment.
Ballard graduated from Wisconsin in 1993 and was a member of the Badgers football team. Finley, who had been serving as an interim co-general manager for the Dallas Mavericks this season, played for Wisconsin from 1991-95.
The search committee is being chaired by Lauren Bishop, an associate professor of social work at Wisconsin who is one of the school’s faculty athletic representatives to the Big Ten and NCAA. Bishop is a former collegiate rower at Duke.
Other committee members are Rob Cramer, Meghan Duggan, Elzie Higginbottom, Marija Pientka, Michael Shannon and William Smith.
Cramer is a vice chancellor for finance and administration. Duggan, a former Wisconsin hockey player, is a director of player development for the New Jersey Devils. Higginbottom, a former Wisconsin track and field athlete, is president of the East Lake Management & Development Corp. Pientka played tennis at Wisconsin and currently is a senior associate athletic director for sports administration. Shannon is a co-founder and former chairman/CEO of KSL Capital Partners. Smith plays soccer at Wisconsin and is a president/chair of the student-athlete advisory committee.
CSA Search and Consulting is assisting in this process.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Join us to watch the last California Governor's Debate on Thursday, May 14 at Round Table Pi… Read moreCalifornia Governor's Debate Watch
San Mateo Bonsai Club - Bonsai Show Read moreSan Mateo Bonsai Club - Bonsai Show
Join New York Times bestselling author Caroline Paul for a lively discussion of her book Tou… Read moreBook Club with Author Caroline Paul
helllrazer9197 said:
I used to go to Laurela Park 1987...hate to see it go.
CA Is Burning said:
Shut down Newsoms' high speed rail and build a bridge from South SF / Candlestick to San Lorenzo / San Leandro.
Sue Lempert said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.