Chad Weiberg About to Have a Very Busy Six Weeks with NCAA Tournament
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State Director of Athletics and Vice-President for Athletics Chad Weiberg is about to see his workload double, maybe more than double. Weiberg can often be seen at Oklahoma State athletic venues watch Cowboy and Cowgirl teams compete. This weekend he wasn’t at Gallagher-Iba Arena to watch the 22-5 Cowgirls just jumped up to No. 21 in the latest AP poll. He wasn’t in Lawrence, Kan. for the Cowboys game at Kansas. Weiberg was with a number of elite Oklahoma State donors to talk about the future of college athletics with the likely settlement of the House vs. NCAA class-action suit. The new cost of not only doing business but having a chance for success in college athletics.
Weiberg sent out his letter to the Oklahoma State community earlier this year trying to get ahead of all the rhetoric and rumor mill.
“This is a crucial time,” Weiberg told me. “We have to think outside the box. It is important that our fans and supporters continue to do all they have for us. Then we have to continue to come up with new ideas and new ways to increase revenue because we are going to need it.”
With all of that going on, Weiberg is also about to participate on the most important committee that the NCAA has, at least in the way of competition and events. Weiberg, the son of a successful small college basketball coach, will become Oklahoma State’s first member of the NCAA Basketball Selection committee.
“It is one of, if not, probably, the highest honor of being part of an NCAA committee, the NCAA Basketball committee. The NCAA Basketball Tournament is just a huge part of what the NCAA does,” Weiberg said on the Orange Power Podcast on OSU Max. “It is an incredible honor.”
Weiberg has been testing himself throughout the season challenging people like Oklahoma State play-by-play voice Dave Hunziker with basketball discussion and rankings. That has been above and beyond his job as athletic director. I don’t have to tell you. A lot has gone on in Stillwater and the Oklahoma State campus so far in 2025. Weiberg helped renegotiate football head coach Mike Gundy’s contract with OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum. Now, Shrum is out and interim President Dr. James Hess is in that office. There are the everyday duties and tasks in athletics.
Fortunately, Weiberg has great assistance in Deputy Athletic Director Reid Sigmon and Senior Associate Athletic Directors like Kevin Klintworth, Larry Reece, Kyle Waters, Karen Hancock, Ben Dyson, and Jesse Martin. Weiberg trusts his staff and they will be holding down the department and communicating with Weiberg what is goin on.
“It is getting real now. I think I knew there would be a lot to learn,” Weiberg said of his involvement being on the committee. “I’m surprised at how much there is to learn. A lot of that is around the seeding and the selection of the teams, but the commitee does a lot more than that. The committee plays a role to administering the entire tournament from site selection to ticket pricing and marketing. We meet with the television partners and we are part of administrating the tournament all the way from selection Sunday to the Final Four. We are sent out to the various sites and make sure the tournament runs smooth all the way to the Final Four.”
Weiberg was selected over a year ago for the NCAA Selection committee. It is a power and prestige appointment that helps the visability and the leadership of Oklahoma State, as a school and athletics. Weiberg is confident in his staff. He just knows this is a volatile time on collegiate athletics.
“I think that goes into the category of we don’t always get to pick our spots and timing to do things,” Weiberg told me about a month ago. “There are things that are out-of-our-control. It is something we have to do if we want to stay competitive. We are entering into this revenue sharing time and (needing) $20.5 million that we don’t have in our budget sitting around at the end of the year. We are going to have to generate additional revenue in every way that we can. Our ability to sell tickets and people give to the program. All of those are going to be a part of it.”
Honestly, a lot of the success and how Oklahoma State holds up in the new emerging world of revenue sharing and greater costs in college athletics with a payroll to meet has to do with the constituency.