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It Was Incredibly Nice of La Salle to Find a Great New Athletic Director for Saint Joe’s
By Matt Schultz
Published:
They say it’s improper to punch down. I respectfully disagree. Sometimes, I believe, it’s the only direction that makes sense to punch in. For example, as a Saint Joe’s alumnus and fan of the men’s basketball team, where else would I punch? Up? At who? In the modern nightmare that is NCAA basketball, where only like 10 programs matter and every other school (especially mid-majors) is fighting for the best Also-Ran Award, the teams that actually matter are so far above the Hawks that punching up is futile. My swing would never reach anyone. No one would feel it. It’d be pointless.
That being the case, punching down is my only option. So here I go: Thank you, La Salle, for presenting Saint Joe’s with its new Athletic Director. That was extremely nice of you. This guy rules:
If you’re unaware, this Saint Joe’s hire comes after former Hawks Athletic Director Jill Bodensteiner left in February to become the new Commissioner of the Horizon League. No one in the world of Saint Joe’s basketball was upset by this. She’d been panned by fans for years. If you’ll recall, she was responsible for classlessly firing Phil Martelli (bad move!), hiring Billy Lange (bad move!), then stubbornly refusing to move on from him after years of evidence suggested he wasn’t a very good head coach. Then Billy Lange abruptly quit a few weeks before last season began to take an assistant job with the Knicks (lol), leaving Jill holding the bag after backing him for years. The whole thing has been a disaster (last season’s surprise success notwithstanding). It’s been bad on Hawk Hill. We needed a savior…
And now we may have one! We got Ash! Thank you La Salle! He seems great! Everything in this week’s Letter from the President sounds pretty good:
“With excitement, we are pleased to announce our next vice president and director of athletics. After an extensive national search* and deliberation over a robust and talented applicant pool, Ashwin “Ash” Puri has been named Saint Joseph’s new vice president and director of athletics, effective Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Ash brings more than two decades of experience building championship programs, elevating the student-athlete experience, driving revenue growth and championing academic excellence, all while fostering a culture of belonging.
From executive roles in Division I programs to professional sports franchises, Ash’s career is marked by transformational leadership and measured success. Most recently, he served as vice president for athletics and recreation, and director of athletics, at La Salle University, where he oversaw a comprehensive program rooted in academic excellence and holistic student development. He has also held senior leadership roles with Villanova, the NBA and Oakland Athletics, where he spearheaded a program that introduced recent college graduates to the sports industry, developed a new membership access program and managed $60 million annually.
Throughout his career, Ash has established himself as one of the most versatile and dynamic athletic administrators in the country. He has led programs through transformative growth — building revenue streams, modernizing facilities, elevating academic cultures and positioning institutions for long-term success.”
His experience spans the full breadth of sports, from Division I athletics to the MLB, NBA and NFL, giving him a unique perspective on what it takes to build and sustain a winning organization.
I like all that stuff. That’s all good stuff in there. And from everything else I’m hearing and reading, Ash wasn’t just committed to basketball, either – which I think is pretty cool. In addition to modernizing the basketball program’s NIL initiatives and spearheading long-overdue renovations to Tom Gola Arena, Puri also managed to revive the school’s baseball program, which was eliminated in 2020. And he did all this in under three years! The guy’s a pro! Just what SJU needs!
Sitting here smiling and gently nodding to myself, I can’t help but think: If Ash was able to accomplish all of this at a school like La Salle, just imagine what he could do running a college basketball program with an actual culture, history, fans, resources, a good gym, cool jerseys, a good mascot, a beautiful campus, NBA alumni, a cool Sports Illustrated cover with Jameer Nelson on it, etc., etc., etc…
The sky is the limit… Hawks fly in the sky… Yes…
Truth be told, I almost feel bad for La Salle fans. They’ve been torched pretty bad here. It can’t be easy to realize your beloved, accomplished Athletic Director was merely using your school as a stepping stone to get to an objectively better job. These poor guys…
Chin up, Explorers fans. I’m sure you’ll find some new talent soon for Saint Joe’s to poach down the line. And feel free to dunk all over this blog when Ash becomes the AD at Seton Hall in two years.
Mid-major hoops is hell for all… The end is nigh for every one of us…
*Kinkead: it makes me laugh that they did a “national search” and ended up poaching the guy from down the street. It’s like the Flyers using a national search firm to find Torts.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…)