Luke Bosso was seen as a non-traditional hire after working as an advisor for the Indiana Governor and holding other city and state government positions. Now entering year two of his tenure as the athletic director of the Jaguars, Bosso leads during a transformational time for the university. Formerly IUPUI, the institution officially changed to IU Indianapolis as of July 1, 2024. The athletic department has been hard at work for the launch of IU Indy Jaguars ever since the breakaway between Indiana and Purdue Universities was announced.

Bosso’s tenure has already seen him hiring a new men’s basketball coach and identifying USA Track & Field as a strategic partner for a newly announced 4,500-seat on-campus arena. Bosso has helped increase fundraising and the number of corporate sponsors, too.

Smith, an IU Indianapolis alumnus and current IU employee/doc student who also served on the IUPUI Athletics Task Force in 2023, offers a good back-and-forth with Bosso as they both look ahead at the future of IU Indianapolis and the IU Indy Jaguars.

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:15 IUPUI is now IU Indianapolis – What it means for Athletics
• 6:45 The definition of a non-traditional AD hire – Why it made sense
• 9:15 What IU President told him he needed to focus on
• 13:10 Learning curve as a new AD and evaluating the department
• 16:55 Discussing the newly announced 4,500-seat on-campus arena
• 24:02 Evaluating men’s basketball leading up to coaching change
• 28:00 Conducting his first big coaching hire
• 37:43 Thoughts heading into IU Indy Jaguars era and the new academic year