The USF athletics department sustained another hit Thursday when Bobby Paschal announced his resignation as associate athletics director.

Still searching for someone to lead them after Lee Roy Selmon resigned as athleic director last month, the Bulls now have to replace nearly 18 years of experience. Paschal coached the men’s basketball team for 10 years starting in 1986, then moved into administration. He’s in charge of facility management, with his last day slated for April 15.

But Thursday, Paschal concluded it became was time to move on.

“I guess in every situation there comes a point where it’s the right time and place to be,” Paschal said. “It’s the right time to move on, and I was able to do it on my own accord.”

When he assumed the assistant AD duties in 1996, Paschal became a key figure in the start up of the football program. From setting up the first trailer, which had no walls, to the new $18 million athletics facility, no building has escaped Paschal’s first-hand touch. He planned travel arrangements and secured temporary lockers and offices to build the program’s foundation. Paschal also negotiated the deal to assure the Bulls played at Tampa Stadium and later Raymond James.

“He’s very detailed and particular in any job he does,” Senior Associate Athletic Director Barbara Sparks-McGlinchy said. “If he was overseeing it, I knew it would be done in the right manner.”

In managing USF’s facilities, Paschal said he forged a tight relationship with assistants Rob Higgins and Scott Glaser. Associate Director Rick Costello will select Paschal’s successor, and Sparks-McGlinchy said both are crucial contributors.

Before Paschal stamped his imprint on athletics, he turned around the men’s basketball team. The Bulls appeared in their first NCAA Tournament in 1990 and returned two years later to face Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA West regional. They haven’t returned since.

The 1995 team won two NIT games, falling one victory shy of a Final Four appearance in Madison Square Garden.

“The players, the coaches, worked so hard to be successful,” Paschal said. “I’ve seen the same thing since I’ve been out of coaching and got into administration. They do a lot of the same things behind the scenes, and I get a lot of joy out of that.”