Chasse Conque Introductory Press Conference

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) hired Chasse Conque (pronounced Chase Konk) as its new Vice President and Director of Athletics.

Conque had served as Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock since 2015.

During Conque's tenure at Little Rock — which competes at the NCAA Division I level — he helped lead a resurgence of the athletic department, both on and off the playing surfaces:

Little Rock won a combined 19 team and individual Sun Belt Conference championships, highlighted by both the men's and women's basketball teams reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Three Little Rock head coaches garnered Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors.

Nearly four dozen Little Rock student-athletes were named all-conference.

In 2017-18, Little Rock posted the highest Graduation Success Rate of any Division I institution in Arkansas in six of the last seven years, graduating 82 percent of Trojan student-athletes.

Little Rock student-athletes have posted a department-wide GPA above 3.00 for 13 consecutive semesters, including a 3.36 GPA following Fall 2018 in which 124 Little Rock student-athletes registered a GPA of 3.00 or higher and 38 boasted a perfect 4.00.
In Spring 2018, Little Rock added a wrestling program that joined the Pac-12 Conference.

In 2017-18, Little Rock set a program record for fundraising, raising $4.3 million to bring its total to more than $11 million over the past three years.

One of Little Rock's top athletic highlights under Conque came in 2015-16 when the men's basketball team finished the season 30-5 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after an 85-83 double-overtime win over Purdue. The head coach of that team was Chris Beard, whom Conque hired in April of 2015. Beard is now head coach at Texas Tech and considered one of the top coaches in the country after leading the Red Raiders to the national championship game last season.

"UTRGV has made an outstanding hire in Chasse Conque," Beard said. "Chasse is a leader in every sense of the word. He will work tirelessly with everyone involved to elevate UTRGV Athletics. Chasse knows how to build championship programs and his work ethic, integrity and innovative thinking make him a perfect fit for UTRGV. Congratulations President Bailey and UTRGV for winning big with this hire."

As part of the UTRGV hiring process, Conque was given a tour of the Valley to see firsthand the university's expanding footprint, including visits to the Edinburg, Harlingen and Brownsville campuses. He also met with a variety of students, faculty, staff, alumni and other community leaders during his visit.

Conque earned his MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2008 and his bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Central Arkansas.

Conque and his wife, Lisa, have three daughters: twins Julianna and Sydney (7) and Adeline (5).