Former ASU athletics administrator chosen as Phoenix Final Four director
Oct 19, 2015, 12:30 PM | Updated: 3:01 pm
PHOENIX — Phoenix’s NCAA Final Four Committee has chosen its executive director and she is more than familiar with the area’s collegiate sports scene.
Dawn Rogers, formerly an associate athletics director at Arizona State, will lead the organization that will plan the Valley’s inaugural college basketball Final Four in April 2017.
Before serving as a senior associate athletics director at ASU for nine years, Rogers was athletic director at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
She has also been a co-chair for the Phoenix Local Organizing Committee, which is helping to put on the event, since 2007.
I am excited to take my passion for student-athlete welfare and ensure that the student-athletes, coaches and fans will have an unforgettable experience in Phoenix,” Rogers said in statement.
Games will take place April 1 and April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. In addition to the games, there will be related events during Final Four weekend, such as a fan fest at the Phoenix Convention Center.
There will also be a music festival easily accessible by light rail. Rogers said putting on an event like this takes a community effort and there will be a need for volunteers.
“We’ll have about 3,000 volunteers that we’ll ask to help us do everything from welcome people when they come to the airport, to be at different fan hotels and be able to get out information,” Rogers said.
Volunteer sign-ups will start about a year before the Final Four. Her team will work with the NCAA and Arizona State, the host institution, for the 2017 Final Four.