Chaves reflects on past, looks to the future at EWU

It's a big year for Eastern Washington University athletics director Bill Chaves.

Ahead lies what he calls, "one of those milestone birthdays," his 50th, marked also by the start of his 10th year on the job in Cheney.

When Montana State's Peter Fields stepped down recently, Chaves surprisingly became the longest tenured AD in the Big Sky Conference.

That's saying something considering the game of musical chairs Chaves interrupted at EWU in July 2007 when he was named to the position after serving in an assistant's role at Baylor University.

It's been a time highlighted by successes such as a 2010 national championship in football and the school's second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015.

"I think the last nine years or so have been fairly successful for us," Chaves said. "But, I'm not a very good maintainer," he added, alluding to never keeping things status quo.

While the accomplishments on the field or court are nice, it's the successes behind the scenes that have arguably proved to be most rewarding. Particularly sweet was earning the nod for a second straight year as the Big Sky's President's Cup school. Eastern also won the trophy in 2009-10.

"Awesome deal, I'm so proud of our student athletes," he wrote in an email. "They are getting it done."

Athletics have certainly helped drive more interest in Eastern as a whole over the past few years. More so than decades ago when very few alums cared about what happened at Woodward Field or Reese Court.

Anecdotally at least, that may be equally linked to the changing nature of the school to being less of a commuter school and more residential.

"There's a reason for folks to come back, and it could be football, it could be basketball," Chaves said. "It could be soccer." Each of the above, as well as other EWU sports, has seen their share of success.

Football of course has been more of a magnet, primarily due to having to commit to fewer games at home. But back-to-back postseason appearances are paying dividends for men's basketball.

"Our alums are circling those five or six dates in the fall," Chaves said. "This year I'll probably say it's six dates, or maybe seven with games at Washington State and Portland State."

That's what athletics can do, act as a galvanizer, Chaves said. "It's a way for folks to get back to campus and go 'Wow, this is what's happening.'"

Chaves loves the idea that the University of Idaho comes full circle and will complete their journey back to the Big Sky by playing football in 2018.

"I know for them it's been challenging," he added of their move. "But I think they'll come out of it just fine."

And speaking of football, Chaves addressed where things sit with a long talked about change and expansion at Roos Field, or, as was broached in May in a Spokesman Review story, an entirely new venue.

With season ticket sales up 12 percent now, versus where they were at the end of 2015, the conversation continues to be relevant. Additionally, "We need to do something to satisfy the demand for premium seating surrounding football," Chaves said.

"I'll give you some broad strokes," Chaves said.

The Gateway Project, a several years-old plan to add significant seating, donor boxes and retail to the east side of Roos Field, has had some of those amenities included in the PUB plans.

The project now is more athletic-centered, and would cost about half the original projected $65 million.

As for the idea to build new, Chaves said it this way.

"Once we ran a few of those ground balls out, we started to think, 'Well let's make sure we don't leave anything not looked at,'" he said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.