This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

When Andrea Williams cites 20-plus years of experience in the college sports industry, she's counting her time as a Texas A&M two-sport athlete.

So the career path that is taking her to Ogden as the Big Sky Conference's newly named commissioner began when she was recruited in the early 1990s by Texas A&M volleyball coach Al Givens, who subsequently lost his job — and landed in Ogden as Weber State's head coach (he's now Westminster College's coach).

Somehow, it all fits together for Williams, whose move from her position of Big Ten associate commissioner clearly reflects the goal of Big Sky presidents to do something extraordinary with this hiring. The conference sought someone with "new vision and new ideas from new parts of the country," said Southern Utah University's Scott Wyatt, chair of the conference's presidents council. "Someone who could, frankly, inspire us."

That becomes the job description for Williams. She's replacing Doug Fullerton, who's retiring after a successful 20-year run. And because Fullerton long ago chose to make Ogden the Big Sky headquarters, Williams' arrival is meaningful for the diversity of sports in Utah as a woman and an African-American in an important job.

Her hiring follows the promotion of SUU's Demario Warren, the first black college football head coach in the state's history. By her count, Williams becomes the 10th woman to lead one of the 32 conferences that operate NCAA Division I basketball programs.

She wants to be judged on her own merits and prefers to take the conversation beyond those issues in 2016, but "I still recognize the significance," she said in a Tribune interview. "We can't deny that it has been a male-dominated industry. There is a gap that needed to be bridged."

In the Big Ten, Williams worked with Andrew Parrish, who recently moved from Minnesota as the chief operating officer of SUU athletics. As a former director of the NCAA women's basketball championship, she also knows Debbie Corum, who has joined the Thunderbirds as senior women's administrator after holding a similar position at Connecticut.

Yet the Big Sky connected with Williams only via a search firm. She emerged from among 50 candidates, Wyatt said, including current commissioners and other conference administrators and school athletic directors. Having once intended to make broadcasting her career, Williams can communicate. She impressed the Big Sky presidents, who liked how she competed in volleyball and basketball in the Big 12 and worked at the Big Ten and NCAA levels, in addition to the comparable Southern Conference.

Williams witnessed the Big Ten's growth from 11 to 14 schools, with two divisions for football. Coincidentally enough, she's joining the Big Sky just as Idaho announced its plans to become the conference's 14th football member in 2018 — creating the opportunity for divisional play and a championship game. That would be unconventional in the FCS, with a 24-team playoff to follow, requiring the regular-season schedule to be shortened.

So that's among the decisions awaiting Williams and other administrators. She's determined to lead the Big Sky with a collaborative style, involving the conference staff and the member schools in every move. Yet it's apparent that whether the subject is attendance, television exposure or better experiences for student-athletes in events such as the Big Sky's neutral-site basketball tournament, the presidents are expecting innovation and a dynamic, new approach from her.

"When the interviews were over," Wyatt said, "we were all inspired by Andrea."

Now, all the former broadcaster has to do is spread the inspiration to 14 schools in nine states.

Twitter: @tribkurt