Carbondale Reporter

Greg Starrick may be new to his position, but he's certainly not new to the employer.

On Sept. 1, Starrick became the new athletic director at John A. Logan — a place he previously worked at for 15 years. He replaced Jerry Halstead, who retired.

Starrick told the Southwest Illinois News that he was “very flattered and very humbled” to be offered the part-time position.

“The fact of the matter is, the athletic program is in great shape, and I hope I can continue to navigate the program in a very, very positive way,” the Marion native said.

In his new position, Starrick, who previously was a coach and director at the school, will oversee the program's seven sports. He will be involved in everything from helping to raise funds to monitoring the budgets to looking for coaches if positions come open.

“It's a position that I'm very excited about,” he said.

Starrick said his background has always been in sports, and his resume backs that up. He is a member of the Southern Illinois University Hall of Fame after a great basketball career there. He also was part of the basketball team's radio crew. Southern Illinois' website reported his career scoring average at the school was 22 points per game, and his 90.8 free-throw percentage was an NCAA record for several decades.

Starrick worked at John A. Logan from 1972-85, and during his tenure held various positions such as head baseball coach and assistant basketball coach. He also was executive director of the John A. Logan College Foundation and was the college relations director.

Starrick said he was intrigued by the athletic-director position, and saw it as an opportunity to give back. He said the student athletes are No. 1 with him because he once was one.

“To be honest with you, when I was on the campus and I'd been away from it for quite some time, I just felt at home when I was in the gymnasium,” he said. “There was just something that was saying, 'This is the place I need to be now.' ”

Halstead had been the athletic director since 2001 and also was the head baseball coach for 33 years. Kyle Suprenant, who had been a full-time baseball assistant coach at the school since 2012, was named the new head coach in August.

The sports offered by John A. Logan College are men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s golf, and volleyball. The teams compete in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference as part of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

In the 2015-16 school year, the Volunteer baseball, softball, volleyball and basketball teams posted winning records; the women's golf team was 15th at the NJCAA championship meet; and the men's golf team was sixth at the District 4 tournament, which was one place short of qualifying for the national tournament.