Q&A with John Meeks, athletic director at Vincennes University
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In September, John Meeks began his role as athletic director at Vincennes University. The former basketball coach came from Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington, where he was athletic director for two years.
John Meeks replaced longtime athletic director and women’s basketball coach Harry Meeks who retired earlier this year. John Meeks spoke with Inside INdiana Business about following in Harry Meeks’ footsteps and his goals for VU athletics.
Tell me about your background.
The majority of my career was 17 years as a college basketball coach at four different institutions. I started out as an assistant at the four-year college/university level and then spent the final eleven years as a head coach at the two-year level. Right before COVID, I made the decision to step away from coaching and just taught for about three years.
Right after that, I accepted a position as the director of athletics at Big Bend Community College, which is in Washington state, and I was athletic director there for the last two years.
What successes have you achieved in your career?
I’ve had a lot of success from a sheer athletic standpoint, from the coaching side, several national tournament appearances. But the main thing on the coaching side is back to back years, my final two years as a coach, I had teams that finished with the highest GPA in the nation. In the [National Junior College Athletic Association], there are roughly about 435 schools that sponsor men’s basketball, and we have the highest GPA among all those schools.
From an athletic director standpoint, I worked to try to champion female athletics, and we improved at Big Bend. We had a women’s wrestling program that will have a chance to compete on a national stage for a national championship. I work to grow female rosters and grow female sports in general.
What challenges have you faced in your career?
I’ve definitely had some challenges like everyone else. I mentioned taking this job, and people are like, “Oh, that’ll be smooth sailing.” I don’t think there’s been any job that has been without its challenge. I try to see beyond the challenge, and I try to see what opportunities lie. I’m kind of a person that believes growth doesn’t happen if rain doesn’t fall. The rain and the challenge are the opportunities to experience that growth specifically.
My most latest challenge was driving 2,200 miles with my wife following behind me with two kids in the car and two dogs. That was a challenge in and of itself.
Why did you accept the athletic director position at VU?
The vision that was cast. They’ve had a tremendous amount of success in several different athletic realms. Men’s basketball has been really good over time. The bowling programs have been perennial powers at the four-year level from a bowling standpoint. The vision was cast to have an opportunity to put my stamp on another program.
I’m following Harry Meeks, who was here for a long time in the administrative role. But one statement that resonates with Vincennes and is their moniker is blaze your trail. That has been my thing: an opportunity to develop a program.
Vincennes is unique in that it’s one of the few true universities that competes in two-year athletics. I see a tremendous opportunity to grow that side from a two-year athletic standpoint and see the opportunity for student athletes to come here and experience a university during their time and in two-year athletics, which is rare that they would have that opportunity.
Dr. [Chuck] Johnson as president presents a tremendous amount of leadership. His vision, walking through campus and seeing improvements and changes that have been made over time solidified that decision to make that move.
How will your background help you succeed as VU’s AD?
I spent 11 years as a head coach at the NJCAA level. I have a good grounding and understanding of NJCAA athletics and the mission of what the NJCAA platform provides. I’ve sat in these seats as a coach. When I first took on an athletic director role two years ago, that was one of the things that I prided myself upon is that I’ve sat in those seats.
I was blessed to be a successful coach from a win-loss standpoint, from success off the floor. My background prepared me for that. I’m a person who prides himself on hard work and trying outwork the next person. I want to grow a program that will embrace that hard work side. That’s where my background came from, and it’s come full circle now.
What are your short-term goals as AD?
I’m not a person that comes in here and wants to rock the boat or anything like that. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. We want to see some growth overall. I want to see our teams be even more involved than they already are in the community, to be a visible presence. One of the things I’ll emphasize is a level of community service and a commitment to this community.
I was a coach that was a firm believer in if you’re taking care of things off the floor, off the court, off the field, then things in those arenas will take care of themselves. Giving back to the community, doing a good job in the classroom, making sure we’re working to try to set the bar.
Back to my background as a basketball coach, my goal was to have the highest GPA in the nation. I want our coaches chasing degrees, chasing diplomas as much as they’re chasing those wins. And then also chasing that success in the community. It’s going to take some time to feel out what’s here and what major moves on the horizon might need to be made. But we have that opportunity to make an impact in the community and in the classroom right now.
What are your long-term goals as AD?
There’s some potential to add some sports. I wouldn’t want to go out on a limb and say exactly what those are just because that continues to be feeling out the region, feeling out the area. I also want to feel out the student body and get a good idea of what they would like to see and what recruiting climate and dynamic would fit.
But before we even talk about advancing that side and adding sports, we want to make sure the current teams that we have are competitive across the board. I want to make sure that they’re in a position to compete at the level that they want to compete at.
I’ve been blessed to win quite a bit in my career. For most coaches, they want that pinnacle. They want to win their final match or their final game or final event. I want to make sure that I’m putting our coaches in positions to be able to be there. And the question that I’ve asked them and that I pose to them is, “What are those things that we need to do in order to put you in a national championship conversation?”
Your predecessor, Harry Meeks, left some big shoes to fill. How do you feel about that?
Big, big shoes. He was a good basketball coach and has run this department. My last position, I followed somebody who will be a hall of famer in that league. And Harry’s a hall of famer as well from a coaching standpoint but just did a tremendous job in the fabric. He is a person who is missed this year.
I’ve got half of the box checked because I bear his last name. But I’d love to think at that point in my career, after that amount of time, people feel that positive about me. The impact he made on this campus, the impact he made on students and student athletes lives can be seen all around this department. If I can do a small fraction of that good in the time that I’m here, I would count that as an accomplishment.
What are your thoughts on Ingrida Hartsfield, Harry Meeks’ interim replacement as women’s basketball coach?
She was a good player in her own right and spent a significant amount of time with Harry. There will be some growing pains on that side. It doesn’t matter what type of program you take over. That’s big shoes for her to fill, too, but then, additionally, her first real head coaching position.
I’m a firm believer that you can learn as much as you want to in preparation to take a job, but for most jobs, there’s certain things you just learn in that seat. There are a lot of those things that she’s going to have to learn. I sat there as a 24-year-old, wet behind the ears coach. So I was in that seat, and I relate to those people and want to work to try to help her further this program and move it along.