Jose Padilla started to find what he was looking for in Valparaiso’s new athletic director the first time he went to dinner with Charles Small on May 2.

Small was the first of four candidates to come to campus for in-person interviews and part of that interview included a dinner with the President.

“I got a spark and a flicker in my dinner interview with him,” Padilla said. “I just thought, ‘how thoughtful and sincere.’ I don’t think there’s a fake bone in his body.”

While the dinner was a hit, what came next might have sealed the deal for Small. The former Pitt basketball player returned to his hotel room and he started putting pen to paper. Small wrote into the night as he mapped out his vision for Valparaiso athletics. In the morning, he sent that vision to Padilla.