Justin Sell has only been the athletic director at South Dakota State University for a couple of months, but it didn't take him to long to figure out there are a lot of positives at the Brookings-based school.

"SDSU has done some really nice things over the years. I don't have to turn over the table and start fresh," Sell said. "We've got a solid program with really good people and great student-athletes, who excel on the fields, pools and courts. They also stay out of trouble and get good grades. Those are huge positives."

Sell succeeded Fred Oien, who in December 2008 announced his intent to retire, as the 12th athletic director in South Dakota State history. Mylo Hellickson, longtime faculty athletics representative, had been serving as the acting athletic director prior to Sell's arrival.

Sell came to SDSU after serving as an athletic administrator at the University of Northern Iowa for the past 10 years.

"Justin brings a wide range of experiences from other Division I universities to South Dakota State,"

SDSU president David Chicoine said in making the announcement. "He has a degree of familiarity with our athletic programs' conference affiliations, and he demonstrates an appreciation for Jackrabbit athletics. Most importantly, he shares our common aspirations for the future success of our student-athletes and teams."

Sell, who was born in Salem, Ore., and raised in Columbus, Ohio, oversees the 21-sport NCAA Division I varsity athletics program has spent plenty of time meeting people around the state who are passionate for SDSU athletics. He said it is that kind of passion that makes it easy to go to work everyday.

"You talk to former student-athletes, boosters, donors, supporters or season-ticket holders, and their feelings of this program are so strong," he said. "It's been really easy for me to want to go and sell it and I feel a part of something special."

Sell said being at Northern Iowa, a Summit League and Missouri Valley Football Conference member along with SDSU, gave him the opportunity to watch the Jackrabbits from a distance. And since taking over as the athletic director, SDSU is not far off from being on equal footing with his former employer.

"I liken it to, we are maybe five or six years behind where UNI is right now," he said. "Just from the standpoint, they've been to four of the last six NCAA Men's Basketball Tournaments, football has been in the national championship game and perennially in the playoffs and very-highly ranked. We are knocking on that door, we are right there."

South Dakota State is coming off a fairly successful first season of being eligible for NCAA Division I competition, including a Summit League women's basketball championship and an appearance in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, and Sell said he is eager to continue to build upon that success.

"The beauty of the Summit League has been that we've been able to walk right in and compete at a high level. We won the women's all-sports trophy this year, finished second overall and won the sportsmanship award," he said. "So in our first year of being eligible for Division I competition, we made some noise. Our job is to build on that. I want to win that all-conference trophy."

Sell said the success and the recognition the women's basketball program brought to the university is priceless.

"You want to dominate your league, you want to get regional recognition and from that some national recognition," Sell said. "Women's basketball has opened the door for people to understand what that means."

Facility upgrades are also a priority for Sell, including to 16,000-seat Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, which will be in its 48th season as home of the Jackrabbit football team during the 2009 campaign.

"Coughlin-Alumni Stadium is on the older side and needs to be updated. There are some revenue streams we are leaving on the table because we have an old facility," Sell said. "That's part of the upgrade to Division I athletics. We really need to work toward a multi-purpose field house. In this climate, northern schools cannot get away with not having someplace to practice - baseball, softball, soccer, football, track in the offseason or from late fall through May, the weather is 50/50."

There are many perks to being the athletic director at the state's largest school, but, Sell said, it's been the people he's met in his short time on the job that have made it all worthwhile.

"I've been to Yankton, Redfield, Miller, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and everywhere I go people are terrific," he said. "They really are supportive and they want to see us do good things."