Over the past 20 years, there has been one person who has defined Bowling Green State University and displayed what it means to be a Falcon: Van Wright.

“You can’t tell the story or think about BG from my seat without including Van Wright,” BGSU men’s basketball head coach Todd Simon said.

Wright graduated from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in marketing in 1977, the same degree as his future wife, Tracey.

The couple met in a creative writing class during their freshman year and served as campus tour guides for the university.

Following college, Wright worked at Moulton Gas Service, a family business, for 26 years in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He helped grow the company his father-in-law founded from 4,000 to 40,000 customers.

After rising to general manager of the company and serving as a volunteer on the BGSU Alumni Board of Directors for five years, Wright decided to sell his business and return to his alma mater.

Wright served as the Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Planning from 2005 to 2025. He has served as Director of On-Campus Recruiting for BGSU Athletics since the end of 2024.

“There was an absence while we were running our business back in Wapakoneta. But, when my two sons chose Bowling Green, it reconnected us to the university again in a big way,” Wright said.

However, Wright’s ties to Bowling Green began long before he attended the university, where the basketball arena, the Stroh Center, was named after his parents-in-law, Kermit and Mary Lu Stroh.

“It’s one of the deepest connections in my life,” Wright said.

His father, Volney, ran Roger’s Drug Store in downtown Bowling Green for over 40 years. The store featured the city’s first soda pop machine and camera dealer and is now Tubby’s Tavern.

Partly to the credit of his father, Wright, who grew up in Bowling Green, has been in attendance for nearly every milestone moment in BGSU athletics history you can think of.

He attended the first BGSU basketball game at Memorial Hall (Anderson Arena) when he was four years old in 1960 with his parents, who had charter season tickets. Not long after, he watched the first football game at Doyt L. Perry Stadium when it opened in 1966.

A year later, Wright was in attendance for one of the first BGSU hockey games at Slater Family Ice Arena in 1967. Then, he saw BG men’s basketball’s last NCAA Tournament appearance against Marquette in person in Kent, Ohio, in 1968.

To add to his resume, Wright also saw BGSU hockey win the national championship over Minnesota Duluth at Lake Placid, New York, in 1984. He was at the game with his son, Cameron, who was just three years old, and his wife, who was eight months pregnant with their other son, Alex.

“It’s lifelong. It’s everlasting,” BGSU baseball head coach Kyle Hallock said. “It’s a full lifetime commitment [to Bowling Green] on his end.”

Wright attends many BGSU sporting events and practices and can always be spotted courtside at men’s and women’s basketball games at the Stroh Center.

Over his two decades working at BGSU, Wright has recruited for all 18 athletic programs. He estimates having spoken with 5,000-6,000 high school student-athletes, helping secure the commitment of around 2,000.

“They may not know the full story behind all that he does, but when it comes to our recruiting of our prospects and their parents, there’s probably no person that has a greater impact on the way that people feel about their experience in visiting this institution than Van,” said Derek van der Merwe, BGSU’s Vice President for Athletics Strategy and Director of Athletics. “If I were to sit there and say, ‘Who’s our leader for that sort of philosophy of authentic relationships that are not transactional?’ It’s Van Wright.”

Wright describes his relationship with Bowling Green as intense, passionate and visceral.

“He truly believes that Bowling Green is the most special place on earth,” van der Merwe said.

He nearly always sports a BGSU championship ring and one of his 28 signature pairs of bright orange shoes, standing out in crowds with an eccentric presence as one of the university’s most recognizable figures.

“We do it for that purpose. I wear them (the rings) to remind me of what hard work and dedication can bring,” Wright said. “I’m going to wear orange shoes every single day. If I’m on campus, I’m wearing orange shoes. Not to show off, but because this is our school.”

Wright’s deep connection to BG is one of the main reasons he has thrived as a university recruiter.

“He exemplifies what Bowling Green, the university and specifically, what athletics is about,” Hallock said. “It’s passion. It’s a northwest Ohio guy, born and raised, believing, like a lot of us, that this is the best place on earth. What other option would there be but to be wearing brown and orange every single day?”

Above all else, Wright’s passion stands out as his defining characteristic that is abundantly evident in every interaction.

“There may be people as passionate as him, but there’s no one I’ve met here that’s more passionate than him,” Hallock said.

Wright’s energy is also unique and special. Even as he is nearly 70 years old, Wright seems to have an endless battery that lights up every room he walks into.

“I think people have an idea of the motor, and I don’t know how often he’s got to change the oil on it or whatever, but Van Wright is full throttle. It’s 100 miles an hour, and he doesn’t get tired; there’s no slowing,” Hallock said. “I’ve never seen the B version of him, and I don’t think a C version exists. So, you always get the A version whenever he’s around, and his presence is just second to none, and his enthusiasm is second to none, and it’s real. It’s not anything other than who he really is, and we’re fortunate to have him.”

However, Wright is also as authentic as they come.

“It’s genuine,” Simon said. “He sees the great things that have happened here and the great people that are here, and he truly believes that you know this is the greatest institution on earth. There’s so much greatness that he’s able to share with passionately that makes you gravitate toward it … He also brings that swagger. He’s proud of BG, we’re proud of BG, and he has a swagger about it when he talks about this place, and that’s the kind of pride that you strive for.”

As a recruiter, Wright takes pride in his dedication of every step of the process. He often uses current student-athletes when recruiting and is active on social media.

But most notably, Wright emphasizes building and maintaining personalized connections with every student he interacts with.

“I remember when I came here on all my visits, he always remembered my name, and he always laughed at my jokes. He goes out of his way to have personal connections with the athletes and also just the students who come on campus,” sophomore cross country/track and field mid-distance runner Rachael Hoover, who was recruited by Wright, said. “He was literally the first person I met at the university. He remembered me, where I was from, and the small connections he had to my hometown … Every time I see him, he gives me a big hug. It honestly makes my day whenever I get to see Van.”

As much as he exemplifies and loves Bowling Green, Wright still lives in Wapakoneta. He makes the 74-mile drive to BG multiple times a week.

“He is willing to drive in to be a part of recruiting events that start, you know, at 6 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. He drops everything to prioritize the students that we bring in, and not many people know that,” van der Merwe said. “That’s something that I can’t be more grateful for is that we have a person who cares that much. He knows his purpose. He knows the value that he brings, and he delivers it whenever we’ve asked him to do it.”

Although he is on the tail end of his career, Wright still works around the clock with an intense passion for everything that he does.

“Van is the same dude from the time he wakes up to the time he shuts it down. There’s never been a time I’ve called him where he’s not been available or accessible,” Hallock said. “He exemplifies the best kind of ability is availability. If Van Wright is awake, he’s available to work and make this place better. To me, that’s what the most successful people at Bowling Green have done, and he’s right there.”

While Van enjoys recruiting students to the university, his favorite part is seeing them walk away with a diploma.

“What I really enjoy is the relationships we have with the ones that I have. To go to every graduation in this building (the Stroh Center), with my wife’s maiden name on it, and watch them graduate and put that gold on their cap and gown, I love that. I can’t get enough of that,” Wright said. “I love working with them after they’re gone. Once a Falcon, always a Falcon. People say that. We live that.”

Wright believes that the impact he has had on Bowling Green State University is nowhere near the impact it has had on him and his family.

Ultimately, Wright wants his legacy to be that of a Falcon.

“I just hope people would look back and say, ‘There’s a guy who’s a true Falcon.’ That’s really all it is,” Wright said. “This is where I’m from. This is where I’ve been. I’ve had a great career in business. Now this is a second career. But I look at it as more of a joy; it’s not really a career. It’s not something I do for anything other than to help the university. So, I hope they remember and say, ‘Well, that was a guy who was a true Falcon and helped this university as much as possible.’”

In the end, that is what Wright will be remembered as a lifelong Falcon who impacted thousands of other Falcons over the span of decades dedicated to Bowling Green State University.

“If you look [a Falcon] up, and you want to define it, and you pick a Mount Rushmore of what that exemplifies and looks like and operates like, Van’s picture smiling with the championship ring on is going to be right there,” Hallock said. “He’s a Falcon.”

This story was originally published on BG Falcon Media on May 23, 2026.