Brock Ascher Leaving Drake's Sports Publicity Staff

When I attended the Drake women's basketball lunch the other day in Urbandale, Brock Ascher's first comment to me was, "Ron, this is the last Drake lunch I'll be attending." That got my attention immediately. "Why? Are you going someplace?" I asked. "Yes, I'm going to Iowa State," Ascher answered. Drake's sports communications department will be losing a talented young guy when Ascher departs in about a week. Ascher has been an assistant sports information director at Drake since November, 2009, and will become what he and Iowa State call a "communications specialist 2" Jan. 23 in the College of Engineering. Ascher, a native of Greene, IA, and a 2007 graduate of Northern Iowa, has done a variety of jobs at Drake, but I've dealt with him mostly in his responsibility as the women's basketball publicity guy. "My first home game was when you and Bill Fennelly got into it," Ascher said. "Quite an interesting way to begin a job -- and an interesting way to meet someone, I might add." I asked Ascher what he'll be doing in his new job, and he said, "I'll work specifically in Iowa State's computer and electrical engineering department. I’ll write publicity stories, and also design their recruiting pieces and keep their website maintained." Ascher said, "Everyone at Drake has been very supportive" of his upcoming move north. "As Paul Morrison says, it pays to live right," Ascher commented. Morrison is Drake's longtime do-everything guy who is 93 years of age and is the university's historian.