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Nevada native Dunback thriving in high-profile position with KU Athletics
From the classrooms of Nevada R-5 school district to the hallowed halls of Allen Fieldhouse, Candace Dunback’s journey has been a remarkable one.
Known locally as Candy Mason, Dunback is arguably the most accomplished athlete to come out of Nevada, Missouri. A 1994 graduate of Nevada High, Dunback is a five-time track-and-field gold medalist. She was also an integral component of the school’s 1994 track-and-field girls' state championship team.
Dunback still holds school records in the 800-meter run, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, high jump, and long jump. Dunback’s decorated prep career led to a track-and-field scholarship to the University of Kansas, which she considered her dream school.
At KU Dunback was a five-time All-American, five-time Big 12 champion, and Academic All-American. In ’98 Dunback collected Big 12 championships in the indoor pentathlon, indoor pole vault, outdoor heptathlon, and outdoor pole vault, en route to Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year accolades. Dunback concluded runner-up nationally in indoor pole vault in ’98, runner-up in outdoor pole vault, and placed third in the heptathlon. The following year, she netted a third-place finish nationally in the outdoor pole vault, and a ninth place finish in the heptathlon. At the time of her graduation from Kansas in ’99, Dunback held a half-dozen school records.
Upon graduating with a degree in sports administration Dunback was briefly an assistant coach on the KU women’s track-and-field team. She then spent two years as a ticket manager at Kansas State University prior to heading back to Lawrence in 2003, where she has held several positions in the KU Athletic Department over the past 17 years.
Dunback is currently the Senior Director of K Club (traditions). As the director of traditions, her primary responsibilities are overseeing the Hall of Athletics and K Club, which is the university’s letter-winners association. That association includes over 8,000 former student-athletes, managers, and trainers across the globe, spanning 24 KU sports programs. Dunback creates programming for traditions-based events, with the purpose of celebrating their stories. Her job also entails fundraising initiatives for the group.
K-Club’s mission is to ‘preserve, support, connect,’” Dunback told the Daily Mail during a recent interview. She is also involved with organizing Hall of Fame inductions, jersey retirements, and team reunions. “We always try to perpetuate the family feel, and keep it a multi-generational experience.”
Some of the high-profile jersey retirements Dunback has assisted with in recent years are those of KU men’s basketball players Brandon Rush, Sherron Collins, and Cole Aldrich, each of whom have had NBA careers.
Dunback continued: “We don’t want student-athletes to leave here and go through an identity crisis. You’re lifted up when you’re a student-athlete, and then you’re done. Who are you? Where are you? That’s what I’m passionate about — making sure they still have some kind of connection to this place during their post college transition ."
Dunback’s office also provides support for current student-athletes.
“Just being present, watching their games,” Dunback explained, noting financial support, and helping with tickets also fall under that umbrella. “It could be through career mentoring or providing internships within NCAA compliance regulations. If, say, we have a student-athlete from New Jersey going though culture shock, and not totally comfortable, we can find a former athlete who’s probably from that area, has some life-experiences, and can meet them where they are.”
Dunback said the “connect-piece” is the main part of her job.
“We have different reunion structures,” Dunback said, adding that she helps to organize 10, 25, and 50-year reunions for conference championship teams, dating back to KU squads from the old Big 8 Conference days.
“There’s a lot of them,” Dunback said with a chuckle, adding that all-sport reunions are sometimes held every five years, and even annually. “It’s really that 25-year reunion, and definitely the 50-year reunion for special teams like that, that they really get it. They understand that it’s about more than whatever sport they played. It’s about family, and connectivity, common memories, and stories.”
A somewhat recent addition to Allen Fieldhouse, which is widely considered the Mecca of college basketball, is the All-Sports Museum. Dunback was heavily involved with research for the project, and helped write stories for various displays. She said she was also able to track down many of the pictures, trophies, and other memorabilia displayed, and had involvement with the rollout of the original Naismith Rules of Basketball.
On tap for Dunback is a project for Black History month.
Editor’s note: A pivotal moment in Dunback’s life occurred when she was 11 and attending a camp in Utah for elite youth track athletes.
Speaking at the camp was 1964 Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills. Dunback's journey would later come full-circle, as she formed a close-knit bond with Mills.
See a future edition for part two of the Candy (Mason) Dunback story