Cross & Crescent

For David Brunk (Ball State 1972), a former owner of a few minor league franchises, nothing beats baseball this time of year. It’s still his favorite sport.

“Each spring my wife will ask me if I miss it when spring training rolls around,” he says. “When we were in Kentucky, we would go back to Fort Myers, Florida, for spring training. We’d hang around the batting cages and renew old acquaintances.”

As commissioner of the Northeast-10 Conference, Brunk hasn’t had much opportunity to attend a lot of spring training lately, but he does find the time to attend Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees games.

Attending Ball State

Brunk grew up in West Lafayette, Indiana, and has attended Purdue University football and basketball games his entire life.

When it came time to pick a college he chose Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, for it provided new scenery and new opportunities.

“The size was right, it was comfortable, and education-wise, Ball State impressed me,” says Brunk.

Though Brunk played sports in high school, he decided to bypass collegiate athletics to focus on his business degree.

However, he did play some semi-pro baseball in Muncie, Indiana, for two summers. Lacking a desire to work for a corporation, Brunk decided to finish his degree and pursue a management career in baseball.

Baseball Team Owner

Upon graduation, Brunk was offered a management position in minor league baseball with the Oklahoma City 89ers, which at the time was a Triple-A minor league program for the Cleveland Indians.

The following season he became business manager for the Indian’s Double-A club in San Antonio, Texas.

“Before the first pitch was thrown that season, the Kansas City Royals called my boss and asked if they had a recommendation for someone to be general manager for their A team in Waterloo, Iowa, a member of the Midwest league,” Brunk says.

He was recommended for the job and spent the next two seasons there. He then worked the following two seasons in Jacksonville, Florida, running the Jacksonville Suns, the Kansas City Royal’s Double-AA team.

The Royals then bought a team in the Florida State League and eventually sold the franchise to Brunk with the stipulation the team would be moved to Fort Myers, Florida, where the Royals held spring training.

Brunk remembers the experience as a dream come true.

“Over the years, so many of our players blossomed into bona fide major league stars,” remembers Brunk, “One year we had a starting pitching rotation that included Brett Saberhagen, David Cone, and Mark Gubicza. Ex-Royal, Yankee, and Ranger Don Slaught was the catcher and Gene Lamont, who managed the Pirates and White Sox, managed Fort Myers the first two years we had the team.”

Brunk eventually decided to purchase another team. He worked out an agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates to put a Single-A short season team in Watertown, New York, where they hadn’t had a team since 1949.

Intercollegiate Athletics

George King, former athletic director at Purdue University, was a friend of the Brunk family and gave Brunk’s mom a copy of the NCAA News in 1984.

In the issue, there was an ad for the director of the Eagle Athletic Fund at Morehead State University in Kentucky. Taking King’s advice to pursue the job opportunity, Brunk entered into a career in intercollegiate athletics.

“I had had two opportunities at the time,” he says. “I had been offered a job with the New York Mets, which a couple years earlier I would have crawled on my hands and knees for, and the other for Morehead State. We had a young daughter at the time, so we opted for a campus life at Morehead State.”

While at Morehead State, Brunk spent time as the associate athletic director and softball coach, and also served as an adviser for the Lambda Chi chapter. He says he enjoyed his short stint as chapter adviser and was glad he had the chance to give back.

From Morehead State came the opportunity to join the NCAA national office (then located in Overland Park, Kansas), where he worked from 1990 until 1998. Next, Brunk was offered the opportunity to become commissioner of the Northeast-10 Conference.

The Commish

The Northeast-10 is an NCAA Division II conference consisting of 15 institutions. Unlike Division I athletics, there are limited scholarships for student athletes. The conference offers 23 championships, the most of any Division II conference.

“We believe in providing championship opportunities for all of our student athletes,” Brunk says.

There are a lot of similarities as commissioner to what Brunk did previously in his career, but he admits he misses not having more interaction with athletes.

“I try to get around to the different campuses to see football, basketball, volleyball, and other events,” says Brunk. “During our championships is when I have the biggest opportunity to interact.”

Brunk says the NCAA is about the balance of academics, athletics, and the overall betterment of the student athlete.

Division II recently released a new platform with the slogan, “I chose Division II,” which Brunk believes helps start the Division II conversation.

“It really helps getting the word out about our key attributes,” he explains. “This is what we stand for in Division II. It is about the life experience of the athlete. That is why we have our jobs — to educate them.”

Currently Brunk is also chairing the NCAA Division II Management Council, which oversees day-to-day operations of the Division and works with the staff at the NCAA and Division II Presidents Council on policy implementation.

The Northeast-10 also launched pay-per-view ne10.tv this year. The network broadcasts conference football games, men’s and women’s basketball games, and other championships.

“It has made our institutions a little bit of money, but our goal is to offer free viewing and generate revenue through advertising,” says Brunk. “We have the New York market, Boston market, and Providence, Rhode Island, market. We are optimistic that advertisers will see the benefit.”

Division II has also entered into an agreement with CSTV and through the CBS contract some of the Division II championships are now being nationally televised.

The Lambda Chi Legacy

Brunk came in contact with Lambda Chi Alpha long before he ever stepped foot on the Ball State campus. His grandfather joined Lambda Chi at Indiana University and transferred to Purdue where he was initiated.

His grandfather had numerous Fraternity brothers in the area who met regularly. Once on campus, Brunk found Lambda Chi to be what he described as “far and away the best house on campus.”

He associated early in his freshman year and learned a lot form his experience.

“I really gained the ability to work with all different types of individuals,” he says. “In my line of work, it is paramount to be able to do that. When you ride the ups and downs in the business world, you can relate to being in a fraternity.”

Brunk’s best memories come from interactions with brothers. He remembers the house working together to host the Bike-a-thon as well as the time they turned the fraternity house into a night club called Club Lambda during rush.

“Interaction with the brothers is the thing that really lasts a lifetime and is the reason you’re a member of a fraternity — it’s for the lifetime friendships and relationships,” he says. “My experience with Lambda Chi Alpha was one that had a great impact on my life and is one that I will never forget.”