Ringgold grad hired as AD at Carlow
Carlow University recently gained a valuable asset with the addition of Lou Zadecky as its athletic director.
That leaves Penn State Fayette seeking a new athletic director, however.
Zadecky, a Ringgold graduate, was beginning his seventh season at Penn State Fayette when he accepted the job at Carlow.
“It was mixed emotions, definitely,” Zadecky said. “I love Carlow. There were a couple key factors. One is that it has dual national membership with the NAIA and then the joint partnership with the USCAA which I’m very familiar with.”
Penn State Fayette hosted the USCAA National Championships for men’s and women’s basketball from 2009 to 2019 with Zadecky playing a key role every year of his tenure.
“There also is a lot of positive vision on growth,” Zadecky said. “It’s an opportunity and a challenge. There are 200 student-athletes. Enrollment is always a big thing.”
Penn State Fayette had approximately 70 student-athletes when Zadecky came on board and he helped grow the total to more than 120.
“We finally got soccer at Fayette which should bring more to the enrollment, so that was exciting,” he said.
Zadecky has fond memories of his time at Penn State Fayette.
“I will be forever grateful to the Penn State Fayette family, the staff and student-athletes, and also the surrounding communities,” Zadecky said. “It was an awesome experience that was able to pave the path to my new journey. I was treated like family.”
Zadecky discussed the possible move to Carlow with his wife Anna.
“We talked about it and we made the decision together,” said Zadecky. “She’s very supportive. It was a very hard decision but it was the right decision for us.”
Zadecky’s background in sports makes him an attractive choice as an athletic director.
Zadecky was on the football, swimming and track and field teams at Ringgold. He earned a degree in Health and Physical Education at Edinboro and a master’s degree in sports management at California University.
Zadecky had stints as a girls head basketball coach at South Park, Belle Vernon and Yough, and also coached at the college level as women’s basketball head coach at Penn State Greater Allegheny and as an assistant at Edinboro.
In football, Zadecky served as an assistant coach at Elizabeth Forward, Yough, Southmoreland in high school and also with the Pittsburgh Passion women’s professional team.
Zadecky’s run at Penn State Fayette was successful athletically and also academically.
“I think what Carlow really liked was my attention to academic performance and what we accomplished at Fayette,” Zadecky said. “The average GPA at the campus was around 2.47, 2.5 when I got there. When I left we got the general GPA for all athletics up to a 3.3. When I left three weeks ago we only had one program that was under 3.0 and they were sitting at about 2.98. The coaches bought in.
“They liked how we grew the numbers.”
Zadecky had a good feeling after interviewing with Carlow and was pleased when he was informed he landed the job.
“They said they liked my leadership style, my personality, my vision for student-athletes, and my heart-felt message when I was interviewed,” Zadecky said. “I think that played a big part of it along with my experience.”