Former SSU athletic director a Hall of Famer

Bill Fusco, former Sonoma State University Athletic Director and Petaluma resident, has been inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame with the class of 2020.

Fusco was to be honored earlier this month at the NACDA annual convention in Las Vegas, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead, each of the Hall of Fame inductees were featured in the NACDA Daily Review. Fusco’s profile appeared in the June 8 edition.

Fusco directed the SSU athletic program for more than 20 years from May 1997 until his official retirement at the end of 2017.

He took the SSU program into the era of modern collegiate athletics, guiding the Seawolves into the California Collegiate Athletic Association and into the era of athletic scholarships. During his tenure, SSU teams earned two NCAA Division II national championships, eight regional championships and 20 conference championships. During that time, 76 Seawolf athletes earned All=American honors.

Under his watch, SSU athletes exceled in the classroom, annually maintaining a 3.0 grade point average and consistently rating among the highest in the California State University system for its student athlete graduation rate.

Under Fusco’s leadership, SSU made upgrades to many sports facilities, including tennis, soccer, baseball and softball facilities. A women’s sports team room was added, new seating was added to the Wolves’ Den gymnasium, the Gordon Smith Training Center was added along with an indoor batting cage, and a new locker room for the basketball team was funded.

In 2016 Fusco was named Under Armour Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He was one only four directors from the NCAA Division II selected.

In 2018, Fusco was chosen one of two recipients of a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association. This came a year after his retirement from SSU in 2017.

Prior to coming to Sonoma State, Fusco was sports information director at St. Mary’s College of Moraga, director of athletics at the University of San Francisco and director of athletics at Dominican College of San Rafael (now Dominican University of California).

The Petaluma resident worked with Kevin Klemenok to establish the tradition of having the Kenilworth Junior High School band play at SSU basketball games.

According to the NACDA Dailey Review, Fusco said in accepting his award:

”I am deeply humbled to be inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame given the rich history of this organization and the list of current Hall of Fame members. For athletics administrators, there is no such thig as an individual award, and with that in mind, I am dedicating this honor to all the student-athletes, coaches and administrative staff members who I have had the privilege to serve during my career. They made it happen on the venues of competition, in the classroom and in the community, always representing their institution in the most positive manner possible. I am also most grateful to have had the opportunity to work for four outstanding insitutions I served during my career. To St. Mary’s College of Moraga, the University of San Francisco, Dominican University of California and Sonoma State University, thank you so much for the privilege of being part of your intercollegiate athletics programs. I will always cherish the friendships of each athletics administrator I have had the pleasure of associating with through NACDA, the NCAA, the NAIA and the CCAA. Without the support of these colleagues, and the professional development opportunities I have experienced, I could not have achieved the personal and professional accomplishments throughout my career.”