Meet New Athletic Director Travis Allen

by Krista Norton | August 7, 2025

Total Bulldog Concept: Serve the community and each other with a transformational heart, accept ourselves and others shortcomings, support one another through all accomplishments and failures, focus on continuous improvement, and attack challenges with enthusiasm.

That is the goal for USD 494’s new Athletic Director, Travis Allen. His education and career have taken him many miles from Kansas, but he is happy to be back in his home state, “I love Kansas!”
Born and raised in Derby, until his freshman year, they relocated to Wichita, where he graduated in 2016 from Trinity High School. 
He set out to pursue a career as a college basketball coach. “I was blessed my parents had season tickets to Wichita men’s basketball since 1995,” said Allen.
“I was never good at playing, but loved the sport, I was basically baptized in basketball!” But he admits he has a love for all sports.
His goal took him to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ., where he attended college but was also a student manager for the men’s basketball team all four years
Graduating in 2020 with a Bachelors Degree in Sports Management and Minors in Marketing and Business Management, he continued his education at Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA.
With a degree in Sports Administration, it was then he realized coaching was not his thing. “I did not have the personality for it, nor the characteristics for it,” said Allen, “But I fell in love with the administrative side.”
May 2022 was a pivotal point for Allen. “We had a coaching change, Corey Gipson became the head boy’s coach at Northwestern State, making a huge impact on my career in the short time I was with him.”
“After finishing one more year, we had a huge turnaround that season, winning twenty two games, but lost in our conference game,” said Allen, “Coach Gipson took a job as head men’s basketball coach at his Alma Mater, Austin Peay State University in Tennessee.”
Gibson took his staff with him which included Allen, “That is where I attained my goal as Director of Basketball Operations.”
“In May I made the decision to leave college athletics,” said Allen, “In athletics it is important to make an impact on student athletes, and I did not see that happening.” 
Allen explains “With the current landscape with the transfer portal and NIL, it is rare to have a kid around you for four to five years.” 
NIL stands for Name, Image, and Likeness, and refers to the ability of college athletes to profit from their personal brand through endorsements, sponsorships, and other commercial activities. 
“In the case of basketball at the collegiate level, you have a kid that walks on campus for the first time in June for summer workouts, season begins in November, then season is over in March or April,” said Allen, “By late April, a player is in the transfer portal, and you never see or hear from him or her again. 
At that point, making an impact on their lives, trying to grow them to take on society and make a difference is nearly impossible when you’re only around them for nine months, “It’s hard,” said Allen. 
That is why he decided to do something different, “Scary as a twenty-seven-year-old, moving back in with his parents for a month or two, back on the job search but Syracuse gave me the opportunity!” 
His first impression is, Syracuse is a very nice place. “When I drove in to town, it felt right, it felt like home, because I’m back in Kansas and Kansas is home!” 
After four weeks he has found everyone has gone above and beyond to welcome him, “That is not true about a lot of places I have been.”  
But he admits it’s a very long drive, “But, hey! I have lived in Arizona, Tennessee, and Louisiana!” 
He has one sibling, a sister who was a successful swimmer at the collegiate level but had several injuries, “That made an impact on her career and she is now a physical therapist in Phoenix.” 
He credits his parents for making sacrifices to get him where he is today, “They have gone above and beyond helping me achieve my dreams.”
Dad works for an ethanol company in Colwich, and my mom does a lot of administrative duties as well,” explained Allen.  
Since he was offered the job in June, he had the opportunity to Zoom with some of the coaches “I think it was a very important step!” It allowed him to learn about Syracuse, what Syracuse needs, what the school does well, and what we could perhaps improve on. 
Coaches want a unified front, want communication, want this place to go in the right direction and he thinks it can be achieved with everyone being on the same page. 
“When you have a number of changes in leadership in my position, it’s hard to get the ball rolling in the right direction,” he said, “Syracuse is not a stepping stone for me, you gave me the opportunity, therefore I am loyal to it, I want to do big things here!” 
He credits Joe Hutchinson, swim coach at Wichita East who gave him some great advice as a first year AD, “Don’t make a lot of changes, because that is how you lose respect,” adding, “For me, this is a year for observing, listening and learning.” 
But he would like to see changes in the culture of the athletic department. This is how Total Bulldog Concept comes into play.
Culture that revolves around serving the community, a culture that revolves around forgiving one another, culture that revolves around supporting one another and a culture that revolves around continuous development, a culture that revolves around attacking challenges with enthusiasm. 
“Successful people implement the changes, this is not an easy program, but we have to do it, there is no other option,” said Allen, “We need kids that are in programs that reflect the culture I’m hoping to implement”
“I have seen it work where I have been, having received recognition from the White House, for community service and teams had program records of GPA’s,” adding, “But if we need to make some changes we can!”
Coach Gibson Gerald Harrison - Former AD for Austin Peay State University and current AD for Marshall University, has impacted Allen and he looks forward to making an impact on students here. 
What does he enjoy in his free time? “This is a chance to explore what free time looks like, something I have not had in the last nine years,” he sighed.
“My dog Chex, 17-year-old Beagle, keeps me company, and right now its baseball season and the Royals are on!” But he needs a little more consistency out of them!  
“I have heard so many things about how the community supports us, so we want to show the community we support them as well. 
At 27, he realizes he is not much older than the kids, graduating high school ten years ago. “For me, I think that’s an advantage, I feel I can relate to them in so many ways.”