Alice Khol Set To Retire As Associate Athletic Director at Cleveland State

June 25, 2007

Cleveland, Ohio - Alice Khol, who has served as the primary women's athletic administrator at Cleveland State since the Fall of 1980, will end her 27-year tenure with the Vikings when she retires later this week.

Khol's retirement becomes effective July 1 with her last day in the office being slated for Friday, June 29.

"Alice epitomizes what Cleveland State athletics is all about," CSU Director of Athletics Lee Reed said. "She has battled through the pain of her knee and back problems over the years and never let that stop her from doing what was best for the university and the many student-athletes who have passed through.

"Alice's absence will definitely have an affect on the athletic department. The experience and knowledge that she has gained throughout her career has been a great resource for me to draw on and I will miss her counsel.

"More importantly, she has devoted her life towards helping to give Cleveland State student-athletes a great athletic experience. Through her hard work and effort, CSU has annually achieved its goal of developing young student-athletes into adults during their Viking tenures."

Khol, a native of Cleveland and graduate of John Adams High School and Kent State University, has spent her life involved in athletics.

After graduating from Kent State with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education in 1972, Khol was a teacher in HPER and head girl's basketball coach at Mentor High School from 1972-80. Along the way, she received a master's degree in athletic training from KSU in 1977.

Khol built a basketball powerhouse at Mentor, compiling a 92-37 record during her seven-year tenure that included winning four sectional championships, two district titles and a regional crown in 1977 when the Cardinals advanced to the state semi-finals.

Khol joined the Viking staff in October of 1980 as the head women's basketball coach and coordinator of women's athletics and immediately helped the athletic program make the move to the NCAA level. She also served as the head softball coach for two seasons (1982-83).

The winningest coach in CSU women's basketball history, Khol compiled a 115-187 record in 11 seasons before giving up coaching in 1991 to become Associate Athletic Director.

Among her many coaching achievements, Khol was selected as assistant coach of the USA Select Basketball team for the 1988 Jones Cup Tournament, which was held in the Republic of China. She was honored as Coach of the Year in Ohio Division I competition in both 1982 and 1983 after putting back-to-back seasons of 23-6 and 19-8 together.

In addition, she was elected District 4 representative to the National Coaches Legislation Committee in 1984-86 and appointed to the Women's Court "Top Twenty" selection board.

When her never-ending battle with knee injuries forced her to give up coaching in 1991, Khol used her passion for athletics to help CSU build its athletic program.

Khol served on the volleyball games management staff at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and played an instrumental role in bringing the NCAA Women"s Volleyball Championships to the Wolstein Center in 1996, serving as Tournament Director.

Most recently, she was one of the driving forces behind bringing the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four to Cleveland, serving as tournament manager of both the 2006 regional and 2007 Final Four.

"Without Alice Khol, the Final Four would never have come to Cleveland. That is part of the legacy that she is leaving," Reed added.

Story provided by CSU Office of Sports Information