This July, Point Loma Nazarene University received some heartbreaking news. Ethan Hamilton, the beloved athletic director of PLNU, died after being diagnosed with leukemia.
Hamilton was a staple of the PLNU community. He attended the school and was a member of the 1997 graduating class, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in physical education. Within eight years, he was back at the university, serving as associate athletic director and associate head coach of the men’s basketball team. He eventually assumed the position of head men’s basketball coach, which he held for three seasons before a promotion to athletic director in 2009.
But Hamilton, by all accounts, was much more than a successful PLNU employee. His legacy at the school transcends his occupational competency.
“A perfect example is his memorial,” Interim Athletic Director Jordan Courneya said. “They had it at Horizon Church in Rancho Santa Fe and the facility seated 650 people; and there were at least 100 outside the building, so over 750 people were there to be at his memorial. If that doesn’t say what kind of man he was, nothing will.”
Among the hires in the department under Hamilton’s tutelage was Tim Heiduk, the associate athletic director of communications. Heiduk, entering his third year at the university, first as an associate AD, is coming off a year in which he helped guide PLNU to the PacWest Sports Information Department of the Year Award.
“What always stood out to me about Ethan was how he always made time for others,” Heiduk said via email. “His door was open and he valued your opinion, no matter what your position or title was. To be as intentional with his time as he was is incredibly rare for someone of his stature in the athletics community.”
In Hamilton’s time as athletic director, PLNU had immense success among its sports teams. Hamilton was at the forefront of the university’s move from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to NCAA Division II and was able to see the fruits of his labor in the form of a DII national championship from the women’s soccer team last fall.
Courneya said he hopes to keep much of Hamilton’s leadership style present in the PLNU athletic department. Though on-field success is a top priority and goal of the department, nothing is more valuable than the experience and community within athletics.
“The standard is not changing in terms of how successful we think we can be,” Courneya said. “Day to day, operationally, we try to be very cognizant of our athletes, our faculty on campus [and] our administrators. [We try to] collaborate and do things together, and do things the right way to where we’re bringing in student athletes that want to be successful in the classroom, not just on the field or the court. And that’s important to me as a leader of our department that that continues.”
Courneya was selected as interim athletic director, meaning he’ll serve in this position for the academic school year until further evaluation is done. In the meantime, PLNU will field applications for the position and weigh its options. Courneya has the trust of athletes and coaches at the university to fill Hamilton’s role and do the job well.
“Like Ethan [Hamilton], he is also doing anything in his power to help student athletes’ lives become better,” Coby Barnes, a fourth-year accounting student and PLNU men’s basketball player said. Barnes also said, about the PLNU athletic department, “They have done a great job of not skipping a beat with the passing of Ethan, and I believe that our athletic department is in a great place.”
PLNU is coming off a successful year athletically, with the highlight being the aforementioned national title for the women’s soccer team. But it also included a DII World Series appearance from the baseball team and PacWest conference wins for the volleyball team, men’s basketball team and men’s soccer team. With the loss of Hamilton, the department has a void to fill – not just because of the leader he was, but because of the person he was.
“We’re all just doing the very best that we can, as it’s impossible to replace Ethan,” Heiduk said. “He set the department up very well for the future, so we’re trying to be the best stewards that we can to continue what he has built.”
