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The dean of MVC Athletic Directors and a 2008 inductee into the Omaha Sports Hall of Fame, Bruce Rasmussen enters his 19th year as director of athletics, and 33rd overall at Creighton University.
During Rasmussen’s tenure, Creighton has risen to prominence with its success on-and-off the field, impressive facilities and record-breaking fundraising efforts.
For evidence, look no further than three recent projects that will continue to change the area athletics scene for years to come. The Wayne and Eileen Ryan Athletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena opened in 2009 and immediately gave Creighton’s women’s basketball and volleyball teams a top-notch facility to call home. East of the Ryan Athletic Center will be Creighton’s new student recreation center that was named the Rasmussen Center in his honor and will stand as one of the centerpieces on the Creighton campus when it opens this fall. Last but not least is the completion of TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, home to Bluejay baseball and the College World Series, which opened in 2011 to rave reviews.
Those projects add to an overhaul in the school’s athletic facilities over the past decade, which has also seen Creighton begin play at two of the finest facilities nationwide -- Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium (soccer) and CenturyLink Center Omaha (men’s basketball).
Since Rasmussen assumed the role of athletics director, Creighton has won 23 regular-season and 33 conference tournament titles, which have helped lead to 60 postseason appearances. The Bluejays are the only school in the 106-year history of the Missouri Valley Conference to make 15 straight men’s basketball postseasons, and have made the NCAA Tournament in men’s soccer in 19 of the past 20 years. The Creighton softball team has made six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 10 years.
Creighton has also been recognized with the MVC All-Academic Award in seven of the last nine seasons, including a record 3.37 GPA last spring by student-athletes.
A member of the College World Series of Omaha, Inc., Executive Committee, Rasmussen continues to play a vital role in Creighton and the city of Omaha remaining as host of the College World Series. He was one of six individuals on the CWS Oversight Committee that helped decide the location for the new downtown TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, which will help keep the CWS here for another 25 years. With Creighton serving as host, the CWS has welcomed more than 300,000 fans in each of the last seven years.
Rasmussen was one of four regional winners from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) to take home a 2004 GeneralSports TURF Systems AD of the Year Award, and in 2010 was again honored with an Under Armour AD of the Year award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Creighton’s reputation as one of the nation’s top academic institutions is reflected in the success the Bluejay student-athletes have had in the classroom during Rasmussen’s service as athletics director. Creighton’s baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country, women’s soccer and men’s and women’s tennis teams all have received national awards for their academic success. Bluejay student-athletes consistently own GPAs of 3.25 or above.
Creighton’s primary annual athletics fundraising events are the Bluejay Bash and the Bluejay Jamboree. Under Rasmussen’s leadership, each of these events continues to raise record-breaking funds for Creighton athletics. Most notably, the 2011 Jamboree generated more than $325,000 through its gourmet dinner, raffle and auction.
Rasmussen accepted the associate athletics director position in 1992 after a 12-year run as the winningest coach in Creighton women’s basketball history (196-147), culminating in the program’s historic 1991-92 season.
The 1992 Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Rasmussen led the 1991-92 Bluejay women to a program-record 28 wins (28-4), the WAC regular-season and tournament championships and a first-round NCAA Tournament victory in the program’s first-ever trip to the “Big Dance.” With that 28-4 record in 1991-92, Rasmussen completed his college coaching career with a 196-147 record, good for a .571 winning percentage.
After serving as associate athletics director for two years, 1992-94, Rasmussen was named athletics director on Aug. 1, 1994.
A native of Webster City, Iowa, Rasmussen and his wife, Jill, have five children: Megan (27), David (25), John (21), Katy (17) and Grace (14).
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