NEW YORK — St. John's on Wednesday hired Fordham athletic director and New York native Ed Kull to be its next athletic director.
“Ed Kull has demonstrated a commitment to excellence on and off the field of competition,” said St. John's President the Rev. Brian J. Shanley. “This is an important hire at a critical time in the changing landscape of collegiate athletics, and I am pleased to have Ed rejoin our team.”
Kull grew up in Queens, not far from St. John's, and was a star baseball player at Stony Brook on Long Island, graduating in 2003. Soon after, he began working in athletic administration at St. John's.
“To say this is the honor of my professional life would be an understatement,” Kull said. “I understand the work ahead of us will not be easy, but I wholeheartedly believe we will devote all necessary resources to returning St. John's to its rightful place in the college sports landscape.”
St. John's has been without an athletic director since Mike Cragg and the school mutually agreed to part ways after spending six years at the Big East school in Queens.
Kull was identified as one of SJU's top candidates to become basketball coach Rick Pitino's next head coach weeks ago.
He left college sports for several years before returning to St. John's from 2011-2017, including a stint as vice president of athletics, where he worked on revenue-generating projects for the university president.
Kull has been at Fordham since April 2020.
Under Kull, Fordham's long-struggling Atlantic 10 men's basketball program found some success under the two coaches he hired, Kyle Neptune and Keith Urgo.
Neptune left after one season to return to Villanova and replace Jay Wright as head coach. Urgo led the Rams to their best season in three decades in 2022-23.
Fordham's football team made the FCS playoffs in 2022 and the Rams earned conference titles and NCAA berths in water polo, men's soccer, softball and women's tennis under Kull.
