The RoundHouse | 10/21/2021 2:12:00 PM

Kamie Ethridge calls herself a self-reliant person, one who is trained to solve problems and coach her basketball team.
 
Then she met Sarah Adams at the University of Northern Colorado. Adams helped show her that relying on others can also be a wise decision.
 
Wichita State hired Adams in June as senior associate athletic director and senior women's administrator. Ethridge, women's basketball coach at Washington State since 2018, said Wichita State hired an administrator who knows how to help coaches, student-athletes and their programs without getting in the way.
 
Adams replaces Becky Endicott, who retired in December after 26 years in the athletic department. Adams is happy to be closer to family in Wichita and in Nebraska. The challenges of moving to the American Athletic Conference intrigue her.
 
"They've had a ton of success here," Adams said. "It was time for me to branch out, in other conferences and find other ways of doing things. There's a lot of things to learn in athletics and you see a lot of things done right and you see a lot of things that probably aren't done right. You learn from both."
 
Ethridge considers Adams someone who does things right.
 
"When you have great administrators, and I learned that Sarah is a great administrator, you need to ask for their help and use them," Ethridge said. "What I learned about Sarah, was that it's crazy to not to use the resources from someone who is so good at their job."
 
Adams' career started as a compliance intern at Cincinnati and took her through the Patriot League and several universities, including Northern Colorado, before landing at Eastern Washington in 2018.
 
From her time as a golfer at Nebraska Wesleyan to graduate school in sport administration at Xavier University in Ohio and to a conference office and stops at various schools, Adams is guided by her desire to help those she works alongside.
 
"It's the opportunity to know the work that we're doing is providing the student-athlete experience and helping a lot of young people grow and become young adults," Adams said. "Being able to get to know them more on a personal level is fantastic."
 
Adams considered law school before the internship at Cincinnati, while studying at Xavier, lured her into athletics compliance. While she enjoyed her time at the Patriot League, a conference comprised of private schools and two service academies, she missed the connection to a school and its city and the relationship with its people.
 
"I knew that compliance was my future," she said. "I always felt like campus was the place for me. I've been on campuses ever since."
 
Adams, from York, Neb., oversees Wichita State's compliance, academic support services and sports medicine programs. She will also work with men's and women's basketball.
 
"Athletics is such a small community, so the relationships you build at all the places are very special," she said. "I love traveling with the teams and getting to spend time with the student-athletes. That's when you really feel, as an administrator, that you can see how to make an impact. It's good to see people in different elements. It helps you learn about them and their program."
 
Valerie Cleary, former athletic director at Portland State, met Adams during her time at Northern Colorado. Both schools are members of the Big Sky Conference. They both had a background in compliance. Cleary valued Adams' connections in athletics, her critical thinking and her sense of humor. She admired Adams' desire to attend to the needs of the staff during a difficult time.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic tested athletic departments in many ways and Cleary talked through those issues with Adams.
 
"In most conferences, there is always a bond between SWA's (senior women's administrators)," said Cleary, who became athletics director at Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland in July. "To have someone like Sarah in my circle is so helpful. We really leaned on each other, just to have her analytical skills. Whether that's trying just to get a football team on the field in the fall, and then pivoting to spring, she was always a good resource."
 
Some of those conversations, via phone or text, came while Adams walked Kona, her seven-year-old Black Labrador.
 
"She is totally a pet lover," Clearly said. "When you first meet her, she comes off as pretty serious. That breaks down pretty quickly and she's a really warm, caring, hilarious, smart person."
 
Adams said she thinks the pandemic will play a part in shaping college athletics for years. The past year forced athletic departments to evaluate their operations in areas such as travel, student wellness, staffing and fund-raising.
 
Significant changes such as name, image and likeness legislation and conference realignment must also be considered by administrators.
 
"I don't know if college athletics will ever be the same, and I think you're starting to see that on a national level." she said. "Everything that we've done through the pandemic, and now as we move forward, we just have to be educated, we have to be informed, we have to be ready to make decisions and know that if an opportunity or a situation presents itself, we're prepared."
 
Preparation is one of the reasons Ethridge learned to rely on Adams when they worked at Northern Colorado. Ethridge, an assistant women's basketball coach at Kansas State for 18 seasons, coached at Northern Colorado from 2014-18. She is currently coach at Washington State.
 
Adams made Ethridge's job easier at Northern Colorado. When Ethridge learned Adams was considering the move to Wichita State from Eastern Washington, she deemed the move good for Adams and good for Shocker basketball.
 
"She taught me to depend on the SWA – you need to rely on them and count on them," Ethridge said. "She wants to help your program. She's not trying to coach your team or be a back-seat quarterback. She's going to be there. She's going to be supportive."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.