Dan Guerrero

NCAA National Championship trophies, rings, and watches won by UCLA teams

Dan Guerrero (born November 10, 1951) is the athletic director for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).^[1] He served as the chairman of the Selection Committee for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Career

Guerrero's first stint as athletic director was at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he served for five years (1988–92).

Guerrero next worked at UC Irvine, where he served as Director of Athletics for 10 years (1992-2002). In June 2002, while still at UC Irvine, he was named the 2001-02 Division I-AA/I-AAA West Region NACDA Athletic Director of the Year. During Guerrero's tenure, UCI experienced unprecedented activity in the area of athletic facilities development. In his final five years, Guerrero was involved in $38 million worth of newly constructed or renovated facilities. These projects included a newly renovated track and soccer complex, a new 64-meter competitive swimming pool, a new baseball stadium, and the Anteater Recreation Center, one of the premier recreation centers in the country.

On April 25, 2002, Guerrero was named UCLA's Director of Athletics. In the last nine years, UCLA has finished second three times (2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08), third twice (2003–04 and 2004–05), fourth (2009–10), sixth (2002–03), 11th (2010–11), and 16th (2008–09) in the race for the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup.

In Guerrero's first year at UCLA (2002–03), UCLA won four NCAA titles (men's soccer, women's gymnastics, women's water polo and women's softball). The Bruins placed third in men's golf, tied for third in men's tennis and tied for fifth in women's golf and women's tennis. UCLA also earned six conference titles.

In 2003-04, the Bruins won four NCAA titles (women's outdoor track and field, softball, women's golf and women's gymnastics). They also placed second in men's tennis, women's tennis and men's golf, tied for third in women's soccer, tied for fifth in men's soccer and women's volleyball and fifth in women's indoor track and field. In addition, the Bruins captured seven league titles.

Guerrero was named one of the nation's Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine (October 2004) and the May 5, 2003 issue of Sports Illustrated listed him #28 among the 101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports. He was one of 28 people whose photo was featured on that issue's cover.

In 2005-06, UCLA won two NCAA titles (men's volleyball and women's water polo) and placed second in men's basketball and women's soccer, tied for third in softball, tied for fifth in men's tennis, tied for seventh in men's golf and tied for ninth in women's volleyball and women's tennis. UCLA also won the Vitalis Sun Bowl in football and captured seven conference championships and two post-season tournaments. In 2004-05, UCLA won three NCAA titles (men's water polo, men's tennis and women's water polo) and placed second in women's soccer, men's volleyball, women's golf and softball, tied for second in women's outdoor track and field, fourth in women's gymnastics and tied for fifth in women's volleyball. UCLA also earned its first NCAA post-season appearance in women's rowing (varsity eight) and won eight conference championships.

In 2006-07, UCLA won an NCAA championship in women's water polo, the school's 100th NCAA team title, and placed second in men's soccer and women's tennis, third in women's golf, tied for third in men's basketball, women's soccer and women's volleyball, fourth in women's gymnastics, fifth in women's outdoor track and field, tied for fifth in men's tennis, seventh in men's golf and women's indoor track and field, ninth in men's outdoor track and field and tied for ninth in baseball. UCLA played in its fifth straight bowl game in football and won four league titles.

In 2007-08, UCLA won three NCAA championships in women's water polo (fourth straight), women's tennis (first) and men's golf (second). The Bruins finished second in women's golf, tied for third in men's basketball (third straight Final Four), women's soccer (fifth straight College Cup) and men's tennis, placed fifth (tied) in women's volleyball and softball and seventh in women's gymnastics. UCLA also played in its sixth consecutive bowl game and won four conference championships and two league tournaments.

In 2009-10, UCLA placed fourth in the Learfield Cup standings and won its 11th NCAA championship in softball and its sixth in women's gymnastics. The Bruins finished second in baseball and men's water polo, tied for third in women's soccer (seventh straight College Cup), fifth in women's water polo, tied for fifth in men's soccer and men's tennis, sixth in women's golf, tied for ninth in women's tennis, 12th in women's rowing, 16th in men's golf, tied for 17th in women's basketball and women's volleyball and 19th in women's swimming. UCLA also won three conference titles and two league post-season tournaments and the football team won the EagleBank Bowl. In 2008-09, UCLA won its fifth consecutive NCAA women's water polo championship. The Bruins finished second in women's golf, tied for third in women's soccer (sixth straight College Cup) and men's tennis, placed seventh in women's gymnastics and ninth (tied) in softball, women's volleyball and women's tennis. UCLA also won six conference titles.

In 2010-11, UCLA won its 107th NCAA title in women's golf, placed second in women's gymnastics, third in women's water polo and women's tennis (tied), fifth (tied) in men's golf and men's soccer, ninth (tied) in men's tennis and women's soccer, 17th (tied) in men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball and women's volleyball and 20th in women's swimming.

In June 2010, Guerrero completed a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. As the Chair in 2009-10, he served on the NCAA Advisory Committee.

In addition to his most recent accolades, Guerrero has earned numerous honors in the past nine years. In June 2007, he was named the NACDA Division I West Region Athletic Director of the Year. His other honors include the UCLA Latino Alumnus of the Year (October 2002); Cal State Dominguez Hills' Alumnus of the Year (March 2003); and "Father of the Year" by the Father's Day Council of the American Diabetes Association (June 2003). On September 10, 2002, the Los Angeles City Council honored him with Dan Guerrero Day. He also became the first athlete in any sport at Banning (Wilmington, CA) High School to have his jersey (#8 in baseball) retired (April 2003).

In March 2011, Guerrero was recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) at the Guardian of the Games Awards Show by presenting him with the Clifford Wells Award for distinguished service to the organization. In April, he was presented with the Crystal Eagle Award by CORO Southern California, an organization that provides training of civic and government leaders. In May 2011, he was honored by the Black Coaches and Administrators Association as by awarding him as the Dr. Myles Brand Administrator of the Year.

In 2004-05, he completed a multimillion-dollar agreement with ISP Sports (now IMG College), a premier national collegiate sports marketing organization. He has also reorganized the External Relations area, integrating Corporate Sponsorships, Marketing, Development and Sports Information under one umbrella, in anticipation of a major revenue generating initiative designed to address capital project needs, operational support and program endowments.

Guerrero is presently serving a second term on the Executive Board member of the National Consortium for Academics and Sport. As a result, he has spearheaded unprecedented growth in the Academic Support and Life Skills program at UCLA. During Guerrero's tenure (27 quarters), student-athletes earned 5,703 spots on the Director's Honor Roll (3.0 or higher grade-point average for a quarter) and student development programming, such as the creation of Wooden Academy, and community service activities for the program are at an all-time high.

Guerrero also led the negotiations that solidified the relationship between UCLA and the Rose Bowl, resulting in a $152 million renovation/restoration project that will benefit the Bruin football program for decades upon its completion in 2013. Furthermore, the $136 million Pauley Pavilion renovation project, spearheaded by Guerrero, is slated to be completed by the fall of 2012.

UCLA, under Guerrero's direction, continues to enhance its athletic facilities, including the completion of the Bud Knapp Football wing of the Acosta Center, and the sports medicine and athletic performance centers in the same complex. A new golf practice facility and the Easton Softball Stadium renovation, benefiting the Bruins' golf and softball powers, respectively, were completed for the 2004-05 season. The installation of synthetic turf at Spaulding Field was completed in 2006, the final phase of the Acosta Center project (Olympic sport locker rooms) was completed in 2007 and the $16 million Spieker Aquatic Center was completed in the summer of 2009.

Guerrero has extensive experience in committee work at both the NCAA and conference level. He has been a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee (serving as Chair in 2009-10) and was also a member of the "College Basketball Partnership," a group formed by NCAA president Myles Brand that included many of the most influential people in the sport. He has also served as Chair of both the Pac-10 Athletic Directors Committee, the Budget and Finance Committee, and numerous other Pac-10 committees. He is currently a member of the Nominating, Revenue Sharing, Men's Basketball Tournament, Bowl and Rose Bowl Management committees. He has also served on other NCAA committees, including the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee and the Baseball Academic Enhancement Committee and at the time of his hire by UCLA was serving as the second vice president of the Division I-AAA Athletic Director's Association.

Guerrero is the current president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), a member of the NACDA Executive Committee, and served as president of the Division I Athletic Directors Association in 2010-11.

UCLA is No. 1 in the nation for NCAA team championships (108). During Guerrero's tenure at UCLA, UCLA teams have won 21 NCAA team titles (the highest total in the nation in that span) in 11 different sports, and finished second 17 times, with an additional 32 top 5 finishes (70 total). None of those championships have come in football or men's basketball, and the Bruins have never won a football conference championship under Guerrero's tenure. 172 teams (of 207 possible) have qualified for NCAA postseason competition, and the football team has appeared in seven bowl games. The program has also won 46 conference championships in 15 different sports, produced over 460 All-Americans and featured four Honda Award winners, including the 2003-04 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

Criticism and controversy

Guerrero's tenure at UCLA has been the subject of much criticism.

Alumni and fan websites such as Bruins Nation, Go Joe Bruin and others have been very critical of Guerrero's performance. They cite the lack of forward thinking and complain that the department is constantly in a reactionary mode.

His high-profile coaching hires have also been highly criticized.

Additionally, the recent hiring of Men's Basketball Coach Steve Alford raised many questions regarding how much vetting was done into Alford's past when it became known to UCLA alumni and fans that Alford had publicly supported former Iowa basketball player Pierre Pierce who was accused of sexual assault and later pleaded to a lesser charge. When given the opportunity to address the scandal suring the second question of his introductory press conference at UCLA, Alford stated that "All I can tell you with that situation is I followed everything that the University of Iowa, the administration, the lawyers that were hired," Alford said, "I did everything that I was supposed to do at the University of Iowa in that situation."^[2] In response to criticism about this, Guerrero proclaimed that Alford "gets a clean slate" at UCLA.^[3] Nine days later, Alford apologized for his actions in the scandal via a prepared statement. Guerrero also issued a statement at the time regarding the situation.^[4]

In response to the Alford hiring, several fans and alums launched an online petition calling for his termination by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block.^[5]

Education

Guerrero received his bachelor's degree in History from UCLA in 1974 on a baseball scholarship as a second baseman. He earned a master's degree in Public Administration in 1982 from Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Personal life

Guerrero, who was raised in Wilmington, CA, was inducted into the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Guerrero is married to the former Anne Marie Aniello and they have two grown daughters: Jenna and Katie. A Southern California native, Guerrero has been a very influential part of the community and one of Los Angeles' most charitable benefactors. Guerrero has contributed generously to many local foundations including the Chianti breweries.

References

External links

• UCLA profile