“To see people emotionally losing it after a shot like that goes down and Villanova wins a National Championship for the second time in school history, it was amazing to be a part of something like that,” Brian Beacham said.
Beacham is the former associate director of athletics at Cabrini. He began his new job as assistant director of athletics development at Villanova University on March 1.
The men’s basketball team won the National Championship just four weeks later. Beacham had a front row seat.
“I don’t think anyone can compare their start to a new position to what I went through throughout the whole month of March,” Beacham said. “There’s really no way to summarize that experience as a first four-week experience on a job.”
Beacham traveled with the team the entire way, going from the Big East Tournament in Manhattan to the first and second rounds in Brooklyn to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in Louisville and then to the Final Four in Houston.
“It’s something that [Villanova] University is going to talk about for 100 years,” Beacham said. “Its history and to be able to watch that front row in my fourth week on a new job was pretty cool.”
The last time Villanova won a National Championship was 1985. Beacham says not a day went by from the day he started that the 1985 team was brought up.
“It was always talked about because it was such a special moment for that university,” Beacham said. “Now that it happened again in 2016, that conversation is just going to continue for that team and the 1985 team for so many years.”
For Beacham, one of the more impressive parts of the entire experience was the amount of support from Villanova alumni.
“I was blown away by the support that was provided for that team for four to six days at a time,” Beacham said. “When it comes to an institution like Villanova and the support that they have, it was really amazing to see.”
Beacham’s main role throughout the tournament was helping coordinate tickets for each game.
“Through athletic development and university advancement, we had a ticket allotment,” Beacham said. “I played a role in coordinating ticket distribution, which was busy because you’re constantly doing it. When they win a game, you have you get ready for the next game or when you’re at the Big East tournament, it’s kind of a day to day thing.”
Beacham said they also held a number of events throughout the tournament that he played a role in.
“I was mainly just there as a helping hand if anything came up,” Beacham said. “It was very ticket and event driven throughout the four weeks during the tournament.”
Despite having a less than normal first six weeks at his new job, things are starting to slow down a bit at the home of the National Champions.
“Now that things are slowing down, my day to day role is managing our communications from an athletics development standpoint,” Beacham said. “We work with alumni, parents and friends of the department and university and I help oversee our communication efforts with regard to athletics development.”
Beacham’s new role is event driven, which differs from what his role was at Cabrini.
“I play a big role in events for athletics development with University Advancement,” Beacham said. “It is a very event-driven department of the university and a very event-driven business.”
In his almost eight years at Cabrini, Beacham fulfilled a number of different roles.
“In July of 2015, I was promoted to associate director of athletics here at Cabrini and with that promotion came a role of fundraising and development with the college,” Beacham said. “We became more strategic with trying to raise money for athletics since we had a lot of different things going on, like adding programs and the expansion of the Dixon Center.”
Beacham was hired as the sports information director in June of 2008 and was in that role for three years. In July of 2011, he was promoted to assistant director of athletics.
“As assistant director of athletics, I moved into more of an operational role,” Beacham said. “I started doing scheduling, event and facility management and NCAA compliance.”
In additions to events, Beacham’s new position is part of the University Advancement team at Villanova and is focused on generating resources for the University.
Fundraising was only a small portion of Beacham’s role while at Cabrini.
“Now, at Villanova, it’s a day-to-day experience specialized in fundraising,” Beacham said. “So that was only a small piece of the pie at Cabrini and now it’s the whole pie at Villanova.”
Having previous experience at the Division I level helped Beacham make the transition from a small Division III school, like Cabrini, to a larger Division I school, like Villanova.
Beacham attended Temple University for his undergraduate and received his degree in sports and recreation management with a minor in business. He also received his graduate degree at Temple in athletics administration.
As an undergrad, Beacham worked in Temple’s athletic department for the basketball program and for the athletics communication office. He then worked full time as a graduate assistant, while taking classes at night.
“The GA position was supposed to be a two-year thing there,” Beacham said. “However, it ended up being a one-year thing for me because I got lucky and got an internship at Syracuse in the communication office for a year.”
Those experiences, as well as his time at Cabrini, helped prepare Beacham for his new position at Villanova.
“The relationships I had with the head coaches and the coaching staff at Cabrini, as well as the role I played with other departments on campus was helpful,” Beacham said. “Working closely with coaches is something I’m comfortable with so it was really easy for me to transition that skill from Cabrini to Villanova.”
Beacham says having the experience of working with coaches and understanding the pressure and schedules that they are under is a vital part of what he is doing now.
When looking at his new role and how it is reflective of his future goals, Beacham says this was a natural next step for him.
“The experience of learning day-to-day fundraising and what goes into it and what kind of value an institution places on it was really the motivation for leaving Cabrini and taking a job like this at Villanova,” Beacham said. “From a personal and professional standpoint, I believe having that experience makes me more marketable for down the road.”
With the right preparation from his time at Temple, Syracuse and Cabrini, Beacham believes his new role at Villanova is crucial to wherever his career goes in the future.
“If you’re looking at a graph and you’re looking at what areas are important for a certain career, I felt like fundraising was the one that was empty for me,” Beacham said. “It was an important next step for me.”
“It was a natural move and it was a good move,” Beacham said. “I loved my time here, but this is a really good opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”
When asked for tips and advice for those looking to follow similar career paths, Beacham says there are a few things that are important to keep in mind.
“You have to be able to handle things that someone throws at you,” Beacham said. “You also really have to bend yourself in an athletic department or in the sports communication world if you want to get your foot in the door because it is so competitive.”
Beacham also says being a responsible and reliable person while having strong interpersonal skills are crucial and really go a long way in the world of athletics.
“You also need to use every angle possible and know how to network,” Beacham said. “It’s important to do well in the classroom, but networking is super important and you need to know how to build relationships and make connections, especially if you want to work in athletics.”
