First, NIU hires a new women’s basketball head coach. Then it announces plans for a new athletic facility. Then it has a new head women’s soccer coach join the fray. Then a high-profile radio deal with Chicago’s WSCR “The Score” is made public. The list goes on.

NIU athletics director Jim Phillips has been a busy man over the last six months, but on his way to the All-American Foundation’s 73rd annual “Banquet of Champions,” where Huskie football coach Joe Novak and his wife Carol were to be honored, Phillips took time out to answer a few questions on all the new things Huskie fans will have to look forward to in the fall.

Northern Star: You’ve been a busy guy over the last few months with all these announcements. How excited are you about the deal with The Score?

Jim Phillips: Well, I’m a bit tongue-tied. You’re always hopeful you can work that type of deal, but it took about six months. But, we’re ecstatic. As an institution, for us to be able to talk about a Top-10 accounting program and draw applications to the university is great. It gives us a forum.

NS: You’ve had a lot of new hires: Carol Owens for women’s basketball back in May, Marci Miller, for women’s soccer, Glen Krupica as an associate athletic director … the list goes on.

JP: Glen’s an NIU grad, which I love. He epitomizes what I see as an ideal candidate for NIU. As for the other hires, we had a great thing in place, and we’ve just added some additional people. I’m extremely excited about the new people we’ve added to our staff.

NS: It seems like all these announcements and hires have taken place in the last few months. Are these just the result of work you did in your first few months?

JP: The reality is that I didn’t make any changes in the department in my first six months. I thought it was important to get to know the department and have them get to know me. Those months gave me a great window of what our strengths and weaknesses were. After that, I felt it was time to move forward.

NS: Back in the spring, you announced $5 million had been dedicated by private donors for the new athletic facility. How much more money has been raised toward the $7 million goal?

JP: My ballpark estimate is that we have $5.5 to $5.6 million right now. So, we’ve had about half a million donated in the last few months. We need $7 million before we can break ground, and I really want to focus on the new building and bringing it to reality.

NS: What new changes are coming up on the radar?

JP: You’re always looking to improve. Certainly, we want to enhance our academic profile. We’re going to hire a new director of academic services – that will come in the next four to five months.

NS: With the new facility donation numbers climbing, the Michigan game Sept. 3 and all the new coaches that will be on the sidelines in the fall, what are you most excited about?

JP: I’m excited about getting our student-athletes back on campus and seeing them perform – that’s where I get my enthusiasm from. Not to be too simplistic, but there’d be no reason to have a director of athletics without those athletes.