​LeMoyne-Owen College turned the athletics page on July 1, 2026.That’s when Roderick Smothers Jr. officially assumed the role of athletic director at Memphis’ only historically Black college. The former Philander Smith University athletic director, who spent the past three years as assistant AD for ticketing at Alabama A&M, succeeds William Anderson, whose second stint in the position began in 2021.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“As LOC continues to build tremendous momentum, appointing Roderick Smothers Jr. as our Director of Athletics ignites a new era for athletics and joins our collective mission for advancing opportunities and championship contention for our institution,” LeMoyne-Owen College president Christopher B. Davis said in a news release.Smothers, a native of Vidalia, Louisiana, and graduate of Langston University in Oklahoma, in a recent interview with The Commercial Appeal outlined his vision for the Magicians’ 14 athletic programs, which includes the implementation of the school’s first revenue sharing program.Q. What drew you to the opening at LeMoyne-Owen?A. I had served for three years as an assistant athletic director at the Division I level. I wanted to know how things worked at the D1 level. I did that for three years and learned some things working at that level. Once I realized, no matter where you go, it’s all about serving the student-athletes, I said, ‘OK, I want to get back in that seat, so that I can push my vision forward.’AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementQ. What is that vision?A. My vision is to be student-athlete centered. The landscape of athletics has changed tremendously with respect to having to pay athletes. I think because of that, people have kind of lost sight of the true definition of serving student-athletes. They’re more so focused on the money than the service.At the end of the day, they’re coming through the gates of these universities — and one thing in particular we need to focus on is making sure they get their education. The first word in that is student. So, my vision as a whole is to be student-athlete centered and ensure they get their education and put on a path to be productive citizens.Q. At the same time, paying athletes is not going away. Does LeMoyne-Owen currently have a revenue sharing program?AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA. Currently, we don’t have that in place. Now, obviously, with me coming here, that is something I’m going to look to implement. But we have to get the right infrastructure in place first. We’re going to build some partnerships that are going to strengthen that area.Q. What is your vision for implementing revenue sharing?A. The collective I want to implement is going to be very alumni-based. I want to approach our alumni who either already are giving back or who haven’t given back but are looking to give back. About some annual giving that would be dedicated to athletics. I want to get it to a point where each individual