William Wheeler Named Mizzou’s Senior Associate AD/Finance & Analytics
11/30/2021 6:32:00 PM | General
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois named William Wheeler as the Tigers' Senior Associate AD for Finance and Analytics.
As part of Mizzou's executive and senior staffs, Wheeler will be responsible for the overall management of the athletics business office, the department's budget, managing third-party contracts while overseeing long-term financial planning. He will also be tasked with building out an analytics team to capture, analyze and implement data strategies to enhance departmental goals.
Wheeler, who joins the Tigers from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, replaces outgoing Deputy Athletics Director/Chief Financial Officer Tim Hickman, who recently announced his retirement after over 30 years of service to the University.
"We are pleased to have William join our leadership team at Mizzou," Reed-Francois said. "He brings a breadth of knowledge and a strong work ethic, which we will count on to help build a sustainable business model and develop an analytics team to utilize data to position our enterprise for competitive success. He has shown his ability to be a strong relationship builder and strategic thinker, both of which will help him and our staff have a high level of success. I want to thank the members of our search committee for their collaborative efforts during the hiring process. There was great teamwork and we are looking forward to welcoming William to our staff."
"I am incredibly excited about this opportunity and looking forward to continue serving under a phenomenal leader like Desiree Reed-Francois," Wheeler said. "Positioning Mizzou Athletics for long-term financial success will be my top priority. Data and analytics is also a passion of mine and using those skills to find ways to enhance the department and its competitive success is an exciting opportunity and I look forward to partnering with our campus colleagues. Mizzou is known for its pride and tradition and it's an honor to join an organization where respect and commitment to discovery is at the forefront of educational excellence."
Wheeler originally joined the UNLV staff in 2018 as an assistant director in the business office and was promoted three times, currently serving as Senior Associate AD and Chief Financial Officer.
He oversaw the Rebels' business operation, including budgeting, reporting, long-term modeling, modernizing policies and procedures, oversight of the equipment staff and management of a five-person business office staff. During his tenure, UNLV completed and opened a standalone football facility, extended its apparel contract with Nike and negotiated an agreement to play home football games at Allegiant Stadium, the state-of-the-art facility built by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Prior to his stint in Las Vegas, Wheeler was a member of the athletics business office staff at Florida State from 2016-18. He served as an accounting specialist, overseeing eight sports program and six departments.
He began his career in college athletics as a business office intern and later the Supervisor of Ticket Operations at Montclair State University in New Jersey (2013-14).
The New Jersey native is a two-time Summa Cum Laude graduate of the College of Saint Elizabeth, earning a bachelor's degree in 2012 and a master's in 2013.
