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GREENSBORO — It has been a whirlwind year for UNCG athletics, with the introduction of a new chancellor followed by the controversial decision to move men’s basketball home games from Fleming Gymnasium to the Greensboro Coliseum. Now, the only full-time athletics director the department has known is leaving.

Nelson Bobb, who in 26 years as AD oversaw the program’s transition from NCAA Division III to Division I, announced his resignation at a Monday morning athletics department staff meeting.

“In this era, 26 years is a long time to be associated with one institution and I am honored to have been able to serve this long at such a fine place,” Bobb, 60, said in a statement released by the school. “The time is right for me to step down and for Chancellor (Linda) Brady to make changes that she feels will help UNCG athletics. I support her efforts.”

Bobb and Brady were unavailable Monday to answer questions.

In a release, Brady said Bobb’s last day on the job will be June 30 and that an interim AD and a national search committee will be announced before June 1.

“His efforts over these many years have positioned UNCG to further enhance the visibility and competitiveness of Spartan athletics,” Brady said in a statement. “I am grateful for his service and his many lasting contributions to this university.”

The Spartan coaches, who worked closely with Bobb for so long, said they appreciate his contributions to the university and the athletics program.

“It’s hard to imagine the program without him,” said men’s soccer coach Michael Parker, Bobb’s first hire 25 years ago.

“All of us are starting over at this stage,” said women’s basketball coach Lynne Agee, who has been at UNCG since 1981. “It’s going to be difficult coming to work every day and not having him here.”

Agee was on the search committee that interviewed Bobb in 1983. Back then, the athletics department was in a log cabin where the Student Recreation Center now sits.

“It was definitely different,” Parker said. “With an older staff, we’ve always had a closeness from those early days.”

The program had eight teams when Bobb took over, but by 1987 it had received permission from the university to pursue NCAA Division I status. Within five years, the transition was complete. Bobb went on to lead the Spartans from the Big South Conference to the Southern Conference, oversaw the renovation of most athletics facilities on campus and was inducted into the UNCG Athletics Hall of Fame last year.

“Nelson’s body of work speaks for itself,” said women’s soccer coach Eddie Radwanski. “We say to leave a place better than when you got here. I think Nelson exceeded expectations in that regard.”

Bobb’s first event as athletics director was a men’s soccer match in 1983 in which Radwanski scored the winning goal on a diving header, something Bobb still recalled with delight to potential recruits. When Radwanski left UNCG to join the U.S. national team, he and Bobb joked about him coming back to coach one day. When Radwanski moved back to the area in the early 1990s, Bobb was one of the first people to welcome him back and he convinced Radwanski to finish his degree at the school.

“He’s touched many lives and impacted a lot of young people. I don’t think you can put a dollar figure on that,” Radwanski said. “If I can do anywhere near that, it will be a full life.”

Radwanski described Bobb as “a great fatherly figure, the first one to give you the hug and the first one to give you the tough love.”

“If I want to talk with the athletics director, I have to make an appointment,” Radwanski said. “But if a student-athlete wants to meet with him, they can walk right in. ”

Agee went from laughs to tears as she talked about Bobb.

“He can outwork anybody,” Agee said. “He’s always been aggressive in striving to make things happen and prove things. There was always something spinning.”

“I am just amazed at what Nelson has done,” Radwanski said. “Part of him has got to say, 'This is my baby.’ Look what he’s built, all those years of blood, sweat and tears to build this to the point it is now.

“We’re forever indebted to his commitment to the school, to being a Spartan. How do you thank somebody for that?”

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com