La Salle names Villanova’s Ashwin Puri its new athletic director

In choosing its next athletic director, La Salle looked out toward a Big 5 rival on the Main Line, announcing Friday that it has hired Villanova senior associate athletic director Ashwin “Ash” Puri, who also had the title of chief athletics operating officer.

A former top athletics administrator at the University of California at Berkeley and with the Oakland Athletics, Puri joins La Salle just as a major renovation to Tom Gola Arena is about to get off the ground after years of hopes and attempts and “pushed across the finish line,” as Puri put it Friday in a telephone interview, with the renovation announcement expected in the coming weeks.

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“That’s where I can lend a helping hand, I think, on what the priorities are and should be, in terms of effective ticketing, with an eye on hospitality, fan experience,” Puri said. “Use it as a springboard to create a benefit in getting more things done.”

Puri, who had been at Villanova since 2019, replaces Brian Baptiste, who left in April to become senior deputy director of athletics at the University of Miami.

In listing areas where he shares a vision with Puri, La Salle president Dan Allen said in a telephone interview, “Two things really stand out for me. The focus on our students and the experience we provide for our students — and success. I want to win. I like winning. Ash’s experience across a number of organizations was important. … Specifically in sports, facilities matter.”

With the renovation expected to be underway during the 2023-24 season, Allen said, “Our timeline plan as we are developing it is not to displace the teams from Gola, to practice or to play in.”

Asked about this current era of NIL collectives and transfer portals, Allen said La Salle has to be “mindful of the environment we are operating in.”

“To ignore the current era of intercollegiate athletics is to ignore at our own peril,” he said. “We are keenly aware of what we need to do in this current environment. I will stress that we are going to do this in a way that is not going to compromise our mission and our traditions.”

Puri had been Villanova’s point person dealing with the reconfiguring of the Big 5, adding Drexel and changing the men’s format to a six-school tournament starting in 2023-24.

“What I think that allowed me to do was make connections and understand the Big 5 a little more intimately than I already had while at Villanova,” Puri said. “Also, to get to know the people at La Salle. It helped me make the decision, absolutely.”

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Asked about the challenges facing La Salle’s athletic director in this current environment, Puri said, “I’m going to need to sink my teeth into that one. I’ll tell you this, I’m looking at it as more about the tremendous opportunity, working with Dan on what the right profile is.”

Puri, who grew up in Flemington, N.J., had worked early in his career with the New York Jets and New Jersey Nets.

“Truthfully, I am not interested in leaving this market,” Puri said.