UNC Asheville Athletics Welcome Bessey and Wangrin to Bulldog Staff

Story written by Mike Gore

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Aaron Bessey and Jonny Wangrin are two of the UNC Asheville Athletic Department's newest faces. And both are determined to make a great athletic department even greater in their new roles.

Aaron will officially join the Athletic Department from Lenoir-Rhyne University in August. His position will be Associate Athletic Director for Leadership Gifts. In this role, he will work with all UNC Asheville Athletic priorities identified in the University's Capital Campaign. Bessey's focus is on capital giving, athletic endowments and annual major scholarship support.

He came to see UNC Asheville Director of Athletics Janet Cone when he was getting ready to graduate from N.C. State in 2013. Bessey had a dream of someday becoming an Athletic Director and decided to come talk to the Bulldogs' leader.

"In college I decided that I wanted to become an Athletic Director someday and Janet was nice enough to let me come talk to her and pick her brain," said Bessey. "She was exceedingly kind and gave me great advice. She told me to get as much experience as I could and it didn't matter where I got that experience but to learn as much as I could wherever I was working."

Bessey has followed that advice which has helped lead him to UNC Asheville. He began his career at Appalachian State working for former N.C. State athletic administrator Charlie Cobb. When Cobb left ASU to become the AD at Georgia State, one of the first things he did was bring Aaron with him to Atlanta. At GSU, Bessey was promoted to Athletics Director of Marketing.

Aaron worked with Georgia State for two years before coming back to North Carolina and getting hired at Lenoir-Rhyne. He was named Associate Athletics Director for Marketing and Promotions and was then promoted two years later to Senior Associate AD and Director of the Bears Club.

Bessey will bring all that experience at different institutions and he believes that will help him a great deal at UNC Asheville.

"I believe the various experiences I've had will benefit me at Asheville," said Bessey. "I was fortunate enough to go to a big school like N.C. State and then worked at two mid-size schools like Appalachian State and Georgia State. And then I got a great opportunity at Lenoir-Rhyne. All are great institutions with unique challenges."

Aaron is excited about the potential at UNC Asheville. He knows there are challenges, just like anywhere.

"UNC Asheville is a great school and we all know what an amazing place Asheville is to live in," said Bessey. "I've lived in Asheville the past few years while I've worked at Lenoir-Rhyne."

"We've got great student-athletes at Asheville doing amazing things both on and off the fields and courts," added Bessey. "My job is to do everything I can to give them an even better experience."

"One of the areas I want to work on right away is to try and improve our facilities. We have a gem in Kimmel Arena where our basketball teams play," he said. "But we need to make our other facilities just as good as Kimmel Arena."

"I believe there's tremendous potential in Asheville," said Bessey. "I look forward to working with Janet to try and unlock that potential and give our tremendous student-athletes all the resources they need to succeed."

This is Wangrin's second tour of duty with UNC Asheville. He served as a volunteer assistant men's soccer coach with the Bulldogs in 2015.

Jonny has been hired as Academic and Compliance Coordinator. He'll work with Erin Punter Spence, the school's Director of Compliance, and with Rebecca Nelms who serves as Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Success.

Wangrin has a great memory of UNC Asheville even before coming to work here.

"I've always been a big supporter of UNC Asheville. I can remember going to basketball camp inside the Justice Center when I was young," said Wangrin. "UNC Asheville is a special place. They do athletics right here and I'm delighted to be a part of this great school again."

Jonny comes to UNC Asheville after serving as Assistant Dean of Students at nearby Christ School in Arden. He has also served as the head coach and program director of the Asheville City Soccer Club's AC Academy Program, which trains high-level high school players in the area. In addition, he was an assistant coach for the Asheville City senior team and was formerly Assistant Director of Coaching and Player Development, College Recruitment Coordinator for the Asheville-based Highland Football Club.

"I look forward to working with Erin and Rebecca to do what I can to serve the outstanding student-athletes we have at UNC Asheville," said Wangrin.

"My goal is to do everything I can to help our Bulldogs be successful both on and off the playing fields plus prepare them for a career after they graduate from UNC Asheville," he added.

Jonny should be a big help to the student-athletes at UNC Asheville because he was one at one time. Wangrin was Georgia's 5-A Player of the Year in 2005 at Lassiter High and later played on scholarship at West Virginia University before a knee injury cut short his career. Jonny received his master's degree in Sports Management from WVU and his B.A. in General Business from the University of Alabama, where he graduated cum laude.

"It's been a few years since I've been a student-athlete and things have changed a little bit," said Wangrin. "But there are plenty of things which haven't changed and that's the time these athletes put into being a student-athlete. I have a true understanding and compassion for what is demanded of them and their time."

"And I've been a coach, as well. I hope that my experience in coaching will help me collaborate with our coaches a little more closely because I have a real idea of what they must go through both on and off the field," he said.

By being a student at both Alabama and West Virginia, he has seen what it is like to be a student-athlete at a big Power 5 school. He's looking forward to being in a smaller setting like UNC Asheville.

"I certainly enjoyed my time at Alabama and West Virginia. They're two great schools but at those places you're simply a face in the crowd," admitted Wangrin. "It's going to be wonderful to work at a school that has a more intimate setting where you can interact with student-athletes on a one-on-one basis a lot easier than at a bigger school."

"I'm so grateful to Janet Cone for giving me this incredible opportunity to work at an impressive school like UNC Asheville," said Wangrin.

And Jonny knows full well what a good school UNC Asheville is because his wife, Katie, is a proud 2012 graduate. She is a real estate broker in Asheville.

"Katie has told me numerous times about what a great education she received at UNC Asheville," he said.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

UNC Asheville Athletics Welcome Bessey and Wangrin to Bulldog Staff

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