WAC Announces Pair of Additions to Senior Staff
DENVER – Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Brian Thornton announced today that Drew Speraw has been hired as Associate Commissioner for Basketball and Kyle Grooms has been hired as Associate Commissioner for Football and Sport Administration.
Speraw joins the WAC after nearly 10 seasons as Director of Men's Basketball Operations at Kansas State. A former Division I basketball player himself having played at UCF from 2005-10, he also served as a graduate student manager and administrative assistant at Iowa from 2010-12. He earned his bachelor's degree in finance from UCF in 2009 and also earned a master's in sports and fitness from UCF in 2010. In addition, he added a second master's in business administration from Iowa in 2012.
"Drew is the ideal addition to our staff," said Thornton. "A former basketball student-athlete that has spent a decade on Power 5 staffs, he combines a deep understanding of the day-to-day aspects of basketball administration with a wealth of connections across the sport. Drew's work ethic and creativity will be a huge asset to both our men's and women's programs as we strive to increase our basketball profile nationally."
Grooms comes to the WAC after serving as Associate Athletic Director for Operations and Internal Affairs at Tulsa for the last three seasons. Prior to that role, he was Director of Football Operations for the Golden Hurricane for eight seasons. A former WAC student-athlete, he walked-on to the Tulsa football team in 2003 before earning a scholarship his junior season. He earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from Tulsa in 2009 and added a masters in business in 2010.
"Kyle brings a diverse level of administrative experience that will be extremely valuable to our conference," said Thornton. "He has a firm understanding of the football world from his time as both a football student-athlete in the WAC and a longtime Director of Football Operations at the FBS level. Beyond his football acumen, he has been a senior-level administrator who will be an effective bridge between our office and our membership."