Duke Athletics senior administrator Mike Cragg hired as St. John's athletic director

One of Duke Athletics' longest-serving and most influential administrators is leaving the school after more than three decades.

Deputy Director of Athletics Mike Cragg has been hired as the athletic director at St. John's, his new school announced Thursday. At Duke, Cragg was responsible for overseeing the operations and fundraising of the Blue Devils' men's basketball team and also managed facility construction and planning for all 27 of Duke's varsity sports.

"Mike Cragg has played an enormous role in the growth of Duke Basketball over the past three decades," Mike Krzyzewski said in a St. John's press release. "Quite simply, Duke Basketball would not be where it is without Mike. He has maintained a consistent, and critically important, voice within our program."

As the administrator in charge of the Duke Basketball Legacy Fund, Cragg helped raise more than $115 million for the men's basketball program. He was also the day-to-day contact with Nike to manage Duke's all-sports apparel deal.

Cragg arrived at Duke in 1987 as an assistant sports information director shortly after graduating from Washington, and he was the head sports information director for 10 years before transitioning to take charge of the Legacy Fund in 1999.

The St. John's athletic department includes 16 varsity sports and is best known for its men's basketball program, which upset Duke at Madison Square Garden last season and will visit Cameron Indoor Stadium for a rematch Feb. 2. The Red Storm do not have a football team.

"While we will miss Mike immensely here at Duke, this is an absolutely amazing hire by the leadership of St. John's and an unbelievable opportunity for Mike and his wonderful family," Krzyzewski said. "We are extremely proud of him."

Duke also made an addition to its top athletic administration Tuesday when it hired Longwood Director of Athletics Troy Austin as its new senior associate director of athletics for internal affairs. Austin was a former Blue Devil football captain as a defensive lineman who graduated in 2000, and he will take over the position vacated by Gerald Harrison, who left to become Austin Peay's athletic director in July.