Gary Walters to Step Down as Princeton AD

Gary Walters will step down as Princeton's athletic director after the 2013-14 academic year.

The Ivy League school announced the resignation Wednesday. Walters is entering his 20th year as the Tigers athletic director for 38 varsity sports.

Walters was the starting point guard on Princeton's 1965 NCAA Final Four men's basketball team that featured Bill Bradley. Walters led the 1967 team to a 25-3 record, the best in school history at that time, and a national ranking in the top five. He was also featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with center Chris Thomforde.

Walters has overseen a program that's won 214 Ivy League championships. Princeton has also won 48 national championships since his arrival, including four this past academic year.

"Gary Walters has made Princeton's athletic program a model for the nation," Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber said. "His leadership has produced not only sustained competitive excellence but also, more importantly, a program that cares first and foremost about the education and character of the students who participate in it. At a time when many colleges have cynically abandoned the ideal of the scholar-athlete, Gary has upheld it with unstinting passion and energy."

Walters has guided Princeton through a nearly complete overhaul of its athletic facilities, including the demolition of Palmer Stadium and the construction of its replacement, Princeton Stadium. He has also seen seven members of his administrative staff become Directors of Athletics or Division I conference commissioners, most recently Erin McDermott at the University of Chicago in August 2013.

"I did my best to ensure that our coaches, players and administrators did things right and did the right thing," Walters says. "I am most proud of the integrity associated with our department's commitment to Education Through Athletics as we have pursued excellence with a heart and with a soul."

Walters spent a five-year term on the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, serving as the chair in 2006-07.