Kroner's Corner Special: A Sit Down with SMC President, Dr Roger Thompson

Before Roger Thompson began a long and distinguished career in higher education, he aspired to be a play-by-play announcer. He graduated from Long Beach State with a degree in broadcasting and then spent time in Portland, Ore., working as a radio DJ and calling high school football and basketball games on TV.

Wanting a career with a little more stability than broadcasting, Thompson moved into the academic world as an executive at institutions such as USC, Alabama, Indiana and Oregon before becoming Saint Mary's president in July 2024.

During a lengthy interview in his on-campus office Tuesday afternoon, Thompson addressed several topics, including how he has appreciated the smaller-school dynamic in Moraga, his relationship with SMC head coach Randy Bennett and his outlook for intercollegiate athletics as a whole.

What follows are excerpts from that interview. Some questions and answers have been edited for clarity and/or brevity:

S.K.: You've been here about a year and a half. What are the two or three greatest satisfactions you've had in 18-19 months in Moraga?

R.T.: I think one of them was when I first started – just the outpouring and the welcome that I received from students, faculty, staff, alumni. It was just wonderful. I had a student the first week I was here knock on the door at Siena House and say, "You must be the new president. Welcome to campus. Here are some homemade cookies and flowers for your wife." You've got to be kidding me. Where does that happen?

(Another was) the baseball team going up and winning at Oregon State in the first round of the NCAAs, that was a really fun moment. I was so proud of those guys. I was so happy for 'em that they got that experience.

And, the first graduation was a lot of fun. That was a blast. There have been a lot of good moments.

S.K.: The four schools at which you've been – USC, Alabama, Indiana and Oregon – are big schools. … What from your big-school experience helps you here at Saint Mary's and what from the small-school dynamic has informed you?

R.T.: That's a great question. In the role I was in at those four big schools, progressively responsible for more, I think where it helped me in preparation for Saint Mary's is I saw a lot. There's very little that I see here that I haven't seen before. So, I think that was really good preparation.

I always loved being around students. So, the thing that I like at Saint Mary's is I get to be around students and I get to know students. I go down to Oliver Hall and I have lunch with 'em. I see them outside of class and I go watch them in the play or the musical performance or athletics, whatever it is. And that has been incredibly fun for me.

I think what I took away at those other places, it was always about personal connections, but it was probably more with fellow faculty and staff because there were just so many students. You can't know 30,000 of 'em. I feel fortunate that I think I recognized in myself that those interactions were the things that I enjoyed the most. And at Saint Mary's, you can kind of wrap your arms around the place a little bit. So, that's been really fun and really rewarding.

And the other thing that I love about Saint Mary's – and I say this all the time – is I've been around some pretty big, enthusiastic alumni bases (laughter). But I'm not sure I've ever been involved with an alumni base that's as intense as this one is. They're really connected. When we do a Reunion Weekend, you wouldn't believe how tight students are with each other. That's something I really like here. So, the alumni base might not be as big as some of those other places, but, boy, the intensity, the involvement, the interest, the sort of "All-in on the Gaels" certainly equals those if not surpasses them – and that was surprising. I didn't expect to see that.

S.K.: When I see you at (men's basketball) games … I'm guessing that there are two levels to that: On one level, there's something of an obligation. If you're the head man here, you should be seen at certain events. But the other thing is, I'm guessing you like good basketball and you get to watch Randy's teams. Is that a fair assessment?

R.T.: That is absolutely correct. I love basketball. It was the sport I wish would have been my best – but it wasn't. … I love basketball and I love college basketball, and I've watched Randy from afar because I love basketball. … That was the joke when I got named here – our basketball coach at Oregon said, "Whatever you do, I'm not going to play at Saint Mary's." … I really admire and appreciate what Coach Bennett has done. And as good as he is as a tactician, he's so good in developing young people. I think he kind of reflects what the college does: We really build character and we help people become who they wish to be. That's what we do and that's what college is all about.

Yeah, it's an obligation, but I'll tell you that's the fun part of the job. When I'm going around saying hello to donors and fans, and I've got this thing where I fist bump all the kids in the Gael Force section, that is not work at all. Thoroughly love it.

S.K.: Sometimes when we see things from afar, we have the right perspective. But a lot of times, it's not necessarily that we're wrong, but there's depth to it. So, what did you know of Randy and the Saint Mary's men's basketball program from afar, that now that you know it from a much closer (range), you've got a different perspective or a deeper perspective on it?

R.T.: My appreciation for what Randy's accomplished is far deeper than what I had before I came here. Because of the places I had worked, I think I thought there were more dollars in it – more support staff, more this, more that. All those things that larger athletic departments have. When I got here, I learned that some of those resources, he didn't have. I would argue it's a lot harder to be Randy Bennett than a head coach at a higher-profile school. I really believe that.

My first fall here, Randy invited me to a practice. I got there for about the second half. It was a Friday, got over there about 4 o'clock. They were quitting at 5. I ended up talking to Randy Bennett for probably two-and-a-half hours after that practice ended. It was just getting to know each other, our families, what mattered to him, what mattered to me. I've always valued that after that Randy still says to me, "You and I are good. I know where we are." That two-and-a-half hours, man, I enjoyed it. I have a deeper appreciation for how much he's accomplished.

So, I think I came here with the impression of how good Saint Mary's basketball was. I knew that part. To be fair, that was probably the one thing I knew about Saint Mary's more than anything else. So, I came with an appreciation. Now that I'm here and I see it in action and I see how good his staff is and how good he is and what a tactician he is, he's a great coach.

(Thompson then referenced the fact that the Gaels have had three 5-seeds and a 7-seed in the past four NCAA Tournaments) Show me a Power 4 school doing that. I just think he's a good leader and he's a really good person.

S.K.: Not telling any tales out of school, so to speak, this is a challenging time in college athletics. What would you say to the Saint Mary's fans a) to assuage them that things are going to be OK and b) to say, "Hey, you know that? These things might not be OK"?

R.T.: I'm not thrilled with where intercollegiate athletics is going. And I wrote that Op-ed to the San Francisco Chronicle (last March, regarding roster limits and limits on walk-ons) because I thought where the NCAA was headed was exactly wrong. Why would we limit opportunities for students? Walk-ons have been a key part of every program. Look at Nebraska football in the '70s and '80s. Walk-ons drove Tom Osborne to championships, just as one example. And (former SMC forward) Luke Barrett was such a good example of a walk-on who did well.

So, the things I would say to the Saint Mary's fans are, we're going to do what we can to support Coach Bennett. I feel like it's the golden age of Saint Mary's basketball and I want to try to capitalize on that as much as we can. I would also say to our fans, we're a little bit spoiled. We have something here that every other school in the WCC outside of the Zags would (love to have). When I go to those WCC presidents' meetings, I walk a little taller because I know they're all trying to get to where we are. Our fans, I think they know that, but I don't know if they know how unique it really is. Shoot, I look at these Power 4 schools spending a lot more money on basketball than we are and they're not doing as well. And they have a lot more NIL than we have and they're not doing as well.

I would say to our fans, this is the moment. I feel like we have some potential to go beyond where we are, but we've got to realize that potential. In some ways, as revenue share shifts, it gives us some advantages, actually. We don't have to fund football. Every time I look at the SEC, the Big Ten, some of those schools, they're spending 75 percent of their (rev-share) cap on football, which means there's not that much left for men's basketball, and it enables us to compete.

It's going to be a really interesting time. The part that frustrates me is I worry that we're drifting from what it should be. You go back 10 years, 20 years, a student on a full scholarship to Saint Mary's for athletics, that's real value. You can say that the kid's not getting paid or whatever, but they're being handed an education that's worth a significant six figures over the four years.

This is the other part that concerns me: I don't see anyone in charge and that is concerning because everyone's out for their piece of it and that's a good in some ways, very American in some ways. … I don't know where we're headed, but it seems to me we need oversight.

Who's looking out for the sports? I'll give you an example: We added aquatics here, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's water polo. Those four sports are being cut all across the country, including at Cal Poly, which had a great (swimming and diving) program. So, who's going to develop the Olympic sports? What happens if nobody does track and field anymore? Someone needs to be looking at the broader picture.

S.K.: Obviously, the engine that runs the train of Saint Mary's athletics – and, in some respects, Saint Mary's College – is the men's basketball program. But there are plenty of other programs in the athletic department. If there's one program right now that you think is on the cusp. It's not quite there yet, but in the next couple of years, this really could blossom into something that will get more attention to Saint Mary's, what program would that be?

R.T.: You're going to make me pick one?

S.K.: OK, pick two.

R.T.: OK, one, for sure, is baseball. I think baseball is right there. Coach V (Eric Valenzuela) is outstanding. … The step we took last year, going into the NCAAs, winning that first regional game at OSU. … Softball and soccer on the women's side are right there. … So, I guess I cheated -- that's not two, that's three (laughter).

I will also say (athletic director Mike Matoso) has built a terrific athletic program. If you look across the board at Saint Mary's, we have fantastic coaches, our student-athletes are really good members of our community, and we punch way above our weight.

Steve Kroner has covered Bay Area sports for more than four decades, mainly at KPIX-TV (Channel 5) and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is in his second season working as an analyst alongside Brian Brownfield on SMC men's basketball telecasts on ESPN+.

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Kroner's Corner Special: A Sit Down with SMC President, Dr Roger Thompson

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