Lynn Hickey, who created the UTSA football team, placed UTSA into the Western Athletic Conference, and built the Roadrunners to a position of athletic leadership, announced today she is retiring for personal reasons, effective immediately, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Hickey joined UTSA as Athletic Director in 1999. “For the past 18 years I have been a Roadrunner, and for that I am truly blessed,” Hickey said. “I had the opportunity to join UTSA in 1999 when it was a young university, and I have seen so much growth and excitement build around athletics, both at the University and in the San Antonio community. After a lot of reflections related to my family obligations, and with great pride in all we have accomplished at UTSA athletics, it’s time for a new leader to take the program to its next level.”
UTSA has become one of the sports leaders among relatively new universities, winning multiple awards for its athletic programs.
No word from UTSA on a possible successor.“As I embark on the next chapter of my life, I will continue to be one of UTSA’s most loyal fans,” Hickey said in a statement. “Incredible success awaits our Roadrunners, and I will always carry UTSA in my heart.”
Hickey came to San Antonio from Texas A&M University, where she served as senior associate athletics director/senior woman administrator from 1994-2000. At Texas A&M, her responsibilities included event management and marketing and promotions for 16 of the university’s 19 Division I sports. She also represented the Big 12 Conference as a member of the NCAA Championship Cabinet.
From 1984-94, Hickey served as head women’s basketball coach for Texas A&M. She directed the 1993-94 Aggies basketball team to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, becoming the lowest-seeded team to ever reach that milestone. Texas A&M finished the year ranked No. 19 in the CNN/USA Today Top 25 poll. Following the season, Hickey relinquished her coaching duties to accept the promotion to senior associate athletics director. She finished her coaching career with an overall mark of 279-167 in 15 years of collegiate coaching.
Before her stint at A&M, Hickey was head women’s basketball coach at Kansas State University from 1979-84. She averaged more than 23 wins per season in posting a 125-39 (.762) record over five years and led the Wildcats to five consecutive national tournament berths. She was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame in September 2004.
A native of Welch, Okla., Hickey graduated summa cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., with a bachelor’s degree in education. She was an All-American for OBU’s nationally-ranked basketball team and a member of the USA National Team in 1973. Hickey and her husband, Bill, have a daughter, Lauren Nicole.