Steve Downing is retiring as Marian University's athletic director, ending a 15-year tenure that saw the Indianapolis NAIA program add seven sports and move into its first purpose-built competition facilities. Downing, 72, played forward for Indiana under Bob Knight from 1969 to 1971 and spent three decades in business before taking the Marian post in 2010.
The timing is operational. Marian is mid-cycle on a $12 million athletic complex expansion that includes a turf field and indoor practice facility scheduled to open in fall 2025. The Knights compete in the Crossroads League, where conference realignment chatter has intensified after the University of Saint Francis announced a feasibility study for NCAA Division II membership last month. Downing's successor inherits the decision tree: stay NAIA and defend recruiting territory, or follow peer schools into Division II with the fundraising and scholarship obligations that follow.
Downing's profile mattered in Indianapolis donor rooms. He was an Indiana Mr. Basketball finalist at Washington High School, started on Knight's 1971 team that finished 17-7, and later worked in pharmaceutical sales and medical-device distribution. His Indiana network helped Marian secure naming-rights deals with local orthopedic groups and financial-services firms. The athletic budget grew from roughly $3 million in 2010 to over $8 million today, though exact figures are not published. That growth funded women's lacrosse, men's volleyball, and wrestling additions, bringing Marian's sport count to 22.
The search begins immediately. Marian president Daniel Elsener, who hired Downing in 2010, is expected to prioritize candidates with NAIA experience and Indianapolis corporate ties. The new AD will face immediate decisions on coaching contracts—men's basketball coach Ryan Cline, a former Purdue guard, is in year two of a deal that runs through 2026—and whether to accelerate facility projects to keep pace with schools like Indiana Wesleyan, which recently completed a $15 million arena renovation.
Downing's departure also removes a familiar voice from NAIA governance. He served on the Crossroads League's competition committee and was a visible advocate for keeping basketball tournament allocations weighted toward small-conference automatic qualifiers. That matters as the NAIA considers rule changes around NIL collectives and transfer windows, debates where schools Marian's size have little leverage beyond coalition votes.
The university has not announced a timeline for naming a replacement. Downing's last day is June 30, giving the new hire roughly two months before fall sports report. Worth noting: Marian's compliance director, a former NCAA enforcement staffer, left for a Division II role in March, leaving two senior athletic-administration vacancies open simultaneously.
The next AD will also inherit ongoing discussions with the Pacers Sports & Entertainment group about shared practice-facility access. Downing had been negotiating a deal that would give Marian's basketball teams occasional use of Pacers facilities in exchange for hosting youth camps. The framework was verbal, not finalized, and the Pacers have since shifted their community-partnership focus toward public high schools under a new VP of community relations who took over in January.
Marian's board meets in August to review strategic priorities. Athletic department succession planning will be the first agenda item.
The takeaway
Downing's exit creates a dual vacancy at Marian as the NAIA school weighs Division II exploration and completes a facility-expansion cycle.
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