Durham Sports Club

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Brian Clark, Former NFL & NC State University Wide Receiver. Clark, who now serves as the Executive Director of Development and External Relations for the Poole College of Management at NC State, played 5 seasons in the NFL, including time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Denver Broncos and the Detroit Lions.

In his role as executive director, Clark will be working with the dean and the assistant vice chancellor of university development to plan, direct and implement fundraising goals and major gift programs. He will also be responsible for donor cultivation and relations as well as events like Day of Giving. Clark will also provide innovative leadership, mentoring and strategic direction to a team of four fundraising professionals.

Clark comes to Poole College after previously working for the NC State Wolfpack Club as the director of major gifts where he oversaw all major gift fundraising for capital campaigns and endowment. He led the Wolfpack Club’s $110 million commitment to the Think and Do the Extraordinary campaign. Before joining the Wolfpack Club, he also oversaw athletics major giving at the University of South Florida.

Clark is an alumnus of NC State with a Bachelor of Science in Parks, Recreation and Tourism degree he received in 2006. During his undergraduate career, Clark was a four-year letter winner on the Wolfpack football team and a two-year letter winner on the Men’s track and field team. He also holds a Masters degree in Sports Management Administration from Liberty University.

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8/3/22 – Jenny Levy, Head Coach, UNC Women’s Lacrosse
8/17/22 – Kelly Miller, President/Owner of three Southern Pines-area Golf Courses
9/7/22 – Special Guest Speaker

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Omar Banks, Director of Athletics at Campbell University. Banks oversees Campbell’s 21 Division I varsity programs and more than 400 student-athletes. He was the former executive associate athletics director at Virginia Tech. In his role at Virginia Tech, Banks served as chief financial officer for two years in the 44th-largest collegiate athletics department in the nation. In 2018, Virginia Tech saw an $11 million increase in total revenue over the previous year and generated a surplus for the first time since 2015.

Prior to Virginia Tech, Banks served as the executive senior associate athletics director for the University of Cincinnati for eight years. At Cincinnati, he oversaw all aspects of a $61 million budget and provided strategic advisement to the athletics director on contracts, capital project financing, revenue agreements, personnel planning, departmental policies and procedures, and scholarship support for 19 sport programs. He also handled oversight for football, men’s basketball, men’s soccer, facilities, information technology, athletics equipment operations, and he managed human resource operations for more than 300 coaches, staff members, graduate assistants, and volunteers.

Banks earned his undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Richmond before earning master’s degrees in business administration and sports leadership from North Carolina Central University and Virginia Commonwealth University, respectively. Banks played football at the University of Richmond in 1993 to 1997 and once participated in the NCAA’s Leadership Institute.

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6/1/22 – Scholar-Athlete Awards Night Banquet – 5:30!!!!
SUMMER BREAK

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Nina King, Duke’s Vice-President, Director of Athletics, and Adjunct Professor of Business Administration. In her former role within the Duke Athletics leadership group, King facilitated daily operation and oversight of the department, had oversight responsibilities for the Human Resource operation, Recreation and Physical Education program, and all legal matters, including the development and execution of department contracts while serving as the liaison to the University Legal Counsel Office. She led the senior staff/sport administrator group that is responsible for administration of Duke’s 27 varsity sports. In addition, she assisted with oversight and planning for special projects within the department, coordinated strategic planning initiatives and is the primary contact between Duke Athletics and the university administration, including the Board of Trustees, President’s office, and senior administration. She also handled the primary administrative duties for Duke’s women’s basketball and football programs.

This year, King served as the Chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee for the second consecutive year. The 10-person group’s charge, among many duties, is the selection, seeding, and bracketing for the annual NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship.

King is a member of Women Leaders in College Sports, Sports Lawyers Association, University of Notre Dame National Monogram Club and the Florida Bar Association. Additionally, King serves on the Arizona State University College of Law Sports Law and Business Program Advisory Board as well as the Durham Academy Board of Trustees.

King and her husband, Rick, reside in Durham and are the parents of Connor Stephan and Austin Casey.

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5/18/22 – Special Guest Speaker to be announced
6/1/22 – Scholar-Athlete Awards Night Banquet
SUMMER BREAK

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Larry Gallo, Executive Associate Athletic Director at UNC.  Over the course of his career, Gallo has served as an academic instructor, chair of an academic department, assistant and head baseball coach, and at every level of athletic administration. Immediately before coming to UNC, he spent three years as Director of Athletics at Indiana State. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Wake Forest University in a variety of roles.

Gallo earned a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 1973. He went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Physical Education, Health and Recreation in 1977 from URI. He played baseball for the Rams and was selected to the Yankee Conference All-Academic Team. In 1999, Gallo was elected to the University of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame.

He started his coaching career at his alma mater as an assistant baseball coach from 1974-79. He also was an instructor in the Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation.

Gallo spent 1979-1987 at the University of Notre Dame and was the head baseball coach for the Irish from 1980-87. He also chaired the Department of Physical Education from 1984-87. While at Notre Dame, Gallo spent his summers coaching the Cotuit Kettleers in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League. In that role, he coached a number of players who went on to Major Leagues careers, among them Joe Girardi, Will Clark, Greg Vaughn, Terry Steinbach, Ruben Amaro Jr., Ken Howell, Derek Lilliquist, Chris Carpenter, Joe Hesketh, Jeff Innis, Tim Naehring, and Tim Teufel.

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5/4/22 – Nina King, Athletic Director, Duke
5/18/22 – Special Guest Speaker to be announced
6/1/22 – Scholar-Athlete Awards Night Banquet

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be NFL Referee Brad Allen. Allen, a 1991 graduate of UNC-Pembroke, has been officiating games for more than 35 years. On March, 21, 2014, Allen reached the pinnacle of his career, receiving a call from Dean Blandino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, asking him to “come work for me on Sundays.” He was originally going to be an umpire, but when long-time referee Mike Carey announced his retirement on June 24, 2014, Allen was given the referee position instead – this was the first time since 1962 that an NFL official in his first year of officiating was given that honor.

Allen’s journey to becoming a referee started well before his days at UNCP. In 1986, he became an official with the Southeastern Athletic Officials Association. He continued to call local games after advancing to the college ranks as an Atlantic Coast Conference official. Among his biggest games are the 2012 Rose Bowl, the 2014 Sugar Bowl and the Army-Navy game.

In addition to being a referee, Allen is the Executive Director/President of the North Carolina Senior Games and the regional supervisor of high school basketball officials. He juggles his full-time duties with his “full-time, part-time job” in the NFL, relying on a strong work ethic, support from home and a hunger for improvement to help him maintain a standard of excellence in all three jobs.

Mark Your Calendar!

4/20/22 – Larry Gallo, Executive Associate Athletic Director, UNC Athletics
5/4/22 – Special Guest Speaker to be announced
5/18/22 – Another Special Guest Speaker to be announced
6/1/22 – Scholar Athlete Awards Night Banquet

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Dave Odom, Former Head Basketball Coach at Wake Forest, University of South Carolina and others. In 1965, Odom accepted a job as the coach of Goldsboro High School while enrolled at East Carolina University in pursuit of a master’s degree in physical education. Odom coached Goldsboro High School for four seasons between 1965 and 1969, he was also a drivers ed instructor during this time. After graduating from East Carolina in 1969, Odom took a job at Durham High School. He coached at Durham for seven years (1969–1976) where he was voted his league’s coach of the year five times.

Odom began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Wake Forest University in 1976 under head coach Carl Tacy. After three years at Wake Forest (1976–1979), Odom became the head coach at East Carolina University, where his squad compiled a 16-11 record, the university’s best since 1965. Odom stayed with the program until 1982, when he was offered a chance to return to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) as an assistant at the University of Virginia. Upon his arrival in Winston-Salem, Odom inherited a team that had suffered four straight losing seasons under head coach Bob Staak. In his 12 seasons (1989–2001) as head coach, Odom compiled a record of 240-132, making him the second-highest winning coach in Wake Forest history, as well as the second highest winning percentage in school history. During this time, Wake Forest earned 7 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT championship. Odom was named ACC coach of the year in 1991, 1994 and 1995.

Odom left Wake Forest to accept the job as head coach of the University of South Carolina in 2001, replacing former coach Eddie Fogler. During his tenure at South Carolina, his team earned one NCAA tournament bid, and made three appearances in the NIT, winning the championship in 2005 and 2006. He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2004. On January 2, 2008, Odom coached his 400th collegiate victory as a head coach. Later that month, on January 18, he announced that he would retire at the end of the 2007-2008 basketball season, his seventh at South Carolina. He coached his final game for USC on March 14, 2008, in the SEC tournament.

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All Meetings at Croasdaile Country Club
4/6/22 –Brad Allen, NFL Referee
4/20/22 – Special Guest Speaker to be announced
5/4/22 – Another Special Guest Speaker to be announced

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Steve Vacendak, former Duke and ABA Basketball player, and 2017 inductee into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. After graduating from Duke University, he was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors in the fourth round of the 1966 NBA draft, but he never played for them. Instead, he played professional basketball for the American Basketball Association and later joined the sales staff at Converse Rubber Company.

In 1980, he went back to work at Duke as an associate athletic director for five years. Perhaps his most significant contribution to his alma mater came during this period when he strongly recommended an unknown young coach at Army – Mike Krzyzewski or Coach K – for the Duke head coaching job. Ironically, Vacendak also played a big role in recommending that NC State consider Jim Valvano for their open head coaching job and State hired Jimmy V just nine days after Duke hired Coach K. After working at Duke, he became the director of athletics and head basketball coach at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

You can learn more about Vacendak at https://www.ncshof.org/stevevacendak

Mark Your Calendar

3/6/24 – Kevin Kelly, Club Member and Senior Games Leader
3/20/24 – Bob Bender, Retired College and Pro Basketball Coach
4/3/24 – Special Guest Speaker

Our Guest Speaker for this meeting will be Mike Elko, Head Football Coach at Duke. He comes to Duke after four years as the Defensive Coordinator at Texas A&M University under Jimbo Fisher. In Elko’s 23 years of coaching, 18 have been spent as a defensive coordinator, including eight at the FBS Power 5 level. He has twice been named a semifinalist for the Frank Broyles Award (2017 and 2021), which is given annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

Elko, 44, has coached in eight bowl games, helped two different teams to NCAA Division I-AA quarterfinal appearances and been part of four league championship squads. Elko’s bowl games include the 2009 Humanitarian, 2012 Military, 2013 Little Caesars, 2016 Military, 2017 Citrus, 2018 Gator, 2019 Texas, and the 2020 Orange Bowl.

Prior to Texas A&M, Elko spent one season at Notre Dame with Head Coach Brian Kelly where he helped the defense rank in the top half nationally in four major defensive categories. The Irish were 10-3 during his lone season in South Bend, including a 21-17 win over LSU in the 2017 Citrus Bowl.

Elko served three seasons (2014-16) at Wake Forest University as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach for head coach Dave Clawson. His 2016 unit ranked in the top-20 nationally in fumbles recovered (3rd), turnovers forced (10th), sacks (12th), defensive TDs (17th), red zone defense (17th) and scoring defense (20th).

Elko is married to the former Michelle Madison of Franklinville, N.J., and they are the parents of three children Michael, Andrew, and Kaitlyn.

Mark Your Calendar – All Meetings at Croasdaile Country Club

3/2/22 – Special Guest Speaker to be announced
3/16/22 – Dave Odom, College Basketball Guru
4/6/22 – Special Guest Speaker to be announced

Our Guest Speaker for this meeting will be Scott Forbes, Head Baseball Coach at UNC. Forbes is entering his second season as the head baseball coach and his 25th season as a college coach and his 21st on the Tar Heel coaching staff. He previously served as Associate Head Coach, Batting Coach, Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator.

During his first year at the helm of the program, Forbes guided the Tar Heels to their fourth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. UNC finished the season with a final record of 28-27 against one of the nation’s toughest schedules with one of its youngest teams. Pitcher Austin Love earned Fist Team All-ACC and ABCA All-Atlantic Region honors, while outfielder Justice Thompson received second-team all-conference accolades under Forbes’ tutelage. He helped Love, Thompson and Caleb Roberts develop into 2021 Major League Baseball Draft picks.

Forbes has a record of 1,008-431 in 24 seasons in the dugout. Collegiate Baseball named him the National Pitching Coach of the Year in 2008, and Baseball America named him one of the country’s top assistant coaches in 2018.

The Sanford, NC, native began his coaching career with former UNC Head Coach Mike Fox in 1998 at NC Wesleyan and followed Fox to Chapel Hill in 1999. He served as an assistant coach fat Carolina or four years (1999-2002) before a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Winthrop (2003-05). He returned to UNC in 2006 as pitching coach, a position he held for 11 seasons (2006-16) before taking over as hitting coach in 2017.

Mark Your Calendar – All Meetings at Croasdaile Country Club

2/16/22 – Mike Elko, Head Football Coach, Duke
3/2/22 – Special guest speaker to be announced
3/16/22 – Dave Odom, College Basketball Guru

Our Guest Speaker for this meeting will be Kim Landrus, Head Gymnastics Coach at NC State. Landrus was hired in May, 2017, after spending 15 years at Illinois – the last 7 as Head Coach.

Landrus had a stellar first year with the Wolfpack as she was named Southeast Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women. She helped lead NC State to an East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championship for the first time since 2013.

In 2021, Landrus led the Wolfpack to its highest national finish in 21 years with a final ranking of 15th in the country. Highlights included its first-ever NCAA Regional final appearance, along with being crowned the 2021 Regular Season Conference Champions. In addition to the historic season, the two-time EAGL Conference Head Coach of the Year (2019 & 2020) guided the Pack to earn 11 All EAGL conference honors in 2021. Nine of the 11 honors were first-team All-EAGL accolades, which tied the most in the league.
Additionally, the Wolfpack also continued to thrive academically under Landrus as 18 gymnasts were named to the All-EAGL Scholastic Team.

As a student-athlete at Iowa State University, Landrus was one of the most decorated gymnasts in Cyclone history. She was ISU’s first-ever national qualifier in 1997, a two-time All Big XII Conference pick, the school’s Most Valuable Gymnast in 1996 and 1997, and she recorded the first ‘Perfect 10’ in school history with a perfect performance on the floor exercise at the 1997 Big XII Championships. The four-year letter-winner was named ISU’s Woman Athlete of the Year in 1997 and was inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame in 2013, becoming the first Cyclone female gymnast to accomplish this feat.

Mark Your Calendar – All Meetings at Croasdaile Country Club

2/2/22 – Special guest speaker to be announced
2/16/22 – Special guest speaker to be announced
3/2/22 – Special guest speaker to be announced