PITTSBURG — Pittsburg State University Vice President for Athletics Jim Johnson announced today (Oct. 9) that Tom Dunn has been hired as Associate Athletic Director for Licensing, Branding and Merchandising.

In the newly created position, Dunn will oversee all aspects of the coordination and execution of apparel, footwear, and sports equipment purchases, procurement and inventory, will oversee all use of the Pittsburg State Athletics brand and marks, and coordinate all licensing activities. He also will manage all aspects of the program's future retail sales projects and initiatives.

"As we look to the future for new pathways to create additional revenue to support Gorilla student athletes, this is the first step," Johnson said. "We believe there is a future where insourcing areas like apparel and equipment procurement will be the norm in college athletics at our level, and we want to be out in front of that. Not only does this give us a chance to control costs but it creates an opportunity to generate new revenue through retail sales in the future. Tom was the obvious logical choice to lead this new initiative for us. His years of experience in the retail and sales industries, along with his familiarity with our program, our staff, and the local community made him a perfect fit to lead us in this new direction."

Dunn joins the Pitt State Athletics administrative team after serving the past four years as general manager at Jock's Nitch Sporting Goods in Pittsburg. He also served as general manager at Jock's Nitch from 1991 to 2013, before working for three years (2013-16) as a marketing coordinator for LEGO Education in Pittsburg and six years (2016-2022) in retail sales development for Jake's Fireworks in Pittsburg. Dunn brings three decades of experience in retail operations and merchandising to the position.

"I am truly honored and grateful to be offered this new position with Pitt State Athletics," Dunn said. "I am excited to be a part of this new initiative that will bring athletics to the next level, and to have the opportunity to work with great coaches and support staff."
 
The creation of Dunn's position is a significant first step in the expansion of Gorilla Sports Properties and a rebranding of this area to Gorilla Sports Enterprises, as a way to insource and reduce selected athletics expenses and also as a way to generate new revenue to avoid the necessity to review areas like student fees and ticket prices.

Gorilla Sports Enterprises (GSE) currently includes: all multimedia, radio, and corporate sales in partnership with Murfin Media (i.e. Gorilla Sports Network); all responsibilities tied to the MIAA Network for video streaming; all equipment and all staff and student-athlete apparel and footwear procurement; and licensing of Pitt State marks in conjunction with Nexus Licensing. Future expansion of GSE will be announced in the coming months throughout the 2025-26 school year.

"The future of intercollegiate athletics is uncertain in many ways. The one thing that is certain is we will need additional revenue to continue to provide our student-athletes and coaches with the tools necessary to be nationally competitive," Johnson said. "We simply have to identify ways to create this revenue without putting it on the backs of fans and students. We are so fortunate to have the support of these groups but we need to do our part to generate more revenue internally, in ways that might have been considered impossible or impractical in the past. Because of the support we have from our fan base, we think really anything is possible as long as we have a good plan and the right people to execute it. I think our students, fans, and alumni will really be excited to hear what is coming in the near future."