The University of Illinois announced Thursday that College of Law alumnus Josh Whitman (’08) has been named the director of athletics. Although Whitman is already well known in the athletics administration arena for his accomplishments at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and most recently, Washington University, he is also a respected member of the Illinois Law alumni base.
During his time at the College, Whitman was already beginning his career in athletics administration at Illinois, serving as both assistant to the director of athletics and coordinator of special projects. He was also the notes editor on Illinois Law Review, served as a teaching assistant in legal writing, and played on the softball team.
“I went to law school never intending to have a long term career practicing. I wanted to position myself for this kind of opportunity,” Whitman said.
He graduated at the top of his law school class, and then clerked for the Honorable M.S. Kanne on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Following the clerkship, he joined Covington & Burling LLP, which has a nationally recognized sports practice and serves as the primary outside counsel to the NFL. After practicing for a little over a year, the opportunity he had been working towards came his way, and Whitman accepted the director of athletics position at UW-La Crosse.
He has found his law degree to be incredibly helpful as an athletics administrator. “I use the soft skills of lawyering - the ability to communicate, advocate, negotiate, to understand contracts, evaluate risk - all of those things come to bear on what I do every day. I feel like I’m better positioned to do a more effective job in my role because of my training.”
Whitman said his law school experience was exceptional: “A really enjoyable three years, I learned a lot about the law and about myself along the way.”
Whitman made an impact on many of the faculty members who had him in class. Professor Andy Leipold and Whitman maintain a close relationship today. Leipold said, “Josh Whitman represents all the best qualities of our graduates. He is extremely smart, works unbelievably hard, and has unshakable integrity. Best of all, these qualities are wrapped in a decency and humility that make him a pleasure to be around.”
Professor Laurie Reynolds echoed Leipold’s sentiments.
“In class, Josh wasn’t one to monopolize the air waves, but his oral participation led me to expect great things on his final exam. When I matched exam numbers to names, I saw that he had scored the highest grade in the class. I wrote to congratulate him and he wrote back to ask me to check to make sure I had matched the grade to the proper exam number because he was sure it couldn’t have been his exam,” she said.
Professor Steve Beckett shared part of the note he submitted to campus in support of Whitman’s candidacy for the director of athletics position. “I have been the director of trial advocacy at the College of Law since 1993 and have taught over 2,500 students over these years. I was fortunate to have Joshua Whitman as a student in the Fall 2007 semester. To say that he was a “standout” would be an understatement. He had the eagerness and poise of a seasoned trial attorney during and at the end of my course. He made an impression on me as a solid student who was going to be successful, whatever his chosen endeavor.”
Last year, Whitman had the opportunity to come back to the College of Law and speak on a panel regarding college athletics at the Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium. Student organizer Nisar Qureshi (’16) said Whitman was thrilled to participate.
“Particularly, he mentioned how much the College of Law helped him better understand how the world of athletics was structured and worked. Many leagues, including the NCAA, are founded on labor & employment law as well as antitrust law. Attending law school helped him gain a much better background on each of these topics,” Qureshi said.
When asked what advice he would share with law students looking to pursue a career in sports law, Whitman said, “Develop great relationships, work hard at networking and reaching out to people. Hopefully those relationships will ultimately lead to experience.”
He went on to say, “The one thing about working in athletics is, it’s a very sought after industry. You have to figure out ways to make yourself different than everyone else. Having a law degree is a great step in that direction. You also have to be really good at what you choose to do, you have to develop that expertise. Too often people worry about that next job and not enough about what they are currently doing. The better you do what you are doing at the moment, the better position you are going to be in to move on and do something substantial.”
Certainly, Whitman is well on his way to doing something substantial at Illinois.
Reynolds said, “What a great choice for athletic director at Illinois! He is living proof that the student athlete model is still viable and will certainly make all of us at the law school very proud to have been a part of his professional development.”
When asked what he is most looking forward to in his new role, Whitman said, “Just the chance to be back at the University, to be a part of this place that has meant so much to me in such a meaningful way. The athletic program in particular has its challenges, and I’m not claiming to be the solution, but I look forward to being a part of the solution.”
Read the official University of Illinois press release