CLEVELAND -- The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced the 28 winners of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award (ADOY) today. Northwood University Athletic Director Dave Marsh earned the distinguished honor of being named a NCAA Division II Athletic Director of the Year.
The award spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). Winners will receive their awards during the James J. Corbett Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 29 at NACDA's 53rd Annual Convention at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
The ADOY Award highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses and their surrounding communities.
"This is the 20th year for the Athletics Director of the Year Program, and each year that goes by, we are continually blown away by the standard of success that these award winners maintain across all levels of college athletics," said Bob Vecchione, NACDA Executive Director. "Over the last two decades, we have been fortunate to recognize more than 425 individuals for the impressive work they do and the examples they set for everyone in our industry."
In January at the annual NCAA Convention in Indianapolis, Northwood was named the recipient of the 2018 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Award of Excellence.
Northwood was honored for the annual "Go M.A.D. day," (Make a Difference) which took place November 3-4, 2017. The community-service based event featured 347 student-athletes across all 18 Northwood varsity sports helping out throughout the Midland community. From across the University 796 students, faculty, staff, coaches and community members were involved, performing over 2,100 hours of service.
Winners of the 2017-18 Under Armour AD of the Year Awards are:
| Winner | Institution |
| Football Bowl Subdivision | |
| Barry Alvarez | University of Wisconsin |
| Whit Babcock | Virginia Tech |
| Joe Castiglione | University of Oklahoma |
| Kirby Hocutt | Texas Tech University |
| Football Championship Subdivision | |
| Thomas Beckett | Yale University |
| Vicky Chun | Colgate University |
| Bill Smith | Bryant University |
| Ingrid Wicker McCree | North Carolina Central University |
| Division I-AAA | |
| Greg Christopher | Xavier University |
| Lenny Kaplan | New Jersey Institute of Technology |
| Chris King | University of Texas Rio Grande Valley |
| Scott Lazenby | Texas A&M University Corpus Christi |
| Division II | |
| Josh Berlo | University of Minnesota Duluth |
| Dave Marsh | Northwood University |
| John Planek | Lewis University |
| Fran Reidy | Saint Leo University |
| Division III | |
| Richard Lenfest | Westfield State University |
| Tony Mariano | Norwich University |
| David Martin | University of Scranton |
| Natalie Winkelfoos | Oberlin College |
| NAIA | |
| Robyn Daugherty | John Brown University |
| Jim Abbott | Oklahoma City University |
| Bruce Parker | Rocky Mountain College |
| Troy Plummer | Grand View University |
| Junior/Community Colleges | |
| Will Cowen | Ventura College |
| Aaron Denton | Sandhills Community College |
| Tim Drain | Tyler Junior College |
| Michelle Ruble | College of Southern Maryland |
Under Armour is now in its 10th year of sponsoring the award and over 220 different athletics directors have been honored with the award during that time.
"The Athletics Director of the Year Award honors those men and women who are visionary leaders in college athletics," said Walker Jones, Under Armour senior director of global sports marketing. "Under Armour is proud to partner with NACDA to facilitate this recognition for the top athletics directors across all divisions."
All NACDA-member directors of athletics in the United States, Canada and Mexico who met the criteria were eligible for the award. Among the criteria were service as an AD for a minimum of five academic years; demonstration of commitment to higher education and student-athletes; continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence; and the ability to inspire individuals or groups to high levels of accomplishments. Additionally, each AD's institution must have passed a compliance check through its appropriate governing body (i.e., NCAA, NAIA, etc.), in which the institution could not have been on probation or cited for a lack of institutional control during the tenure of the current athletics director.
Nominators were NACDA-member directors of athletics, institutional presidents and conference commissioners, as well as other respected intercollegiate athletics administrators. Special Divisional Selection Committees composed of current and former directors of athletics, current and former commissioners and other key athletics administrators voted on nominees for the award. A complete listing of Selection Committee members can be found on NACDA's Web site at www.nacda.com.
About Under Armour (NYSE: UA): Under Armour is a leading developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. The brand's moisture-wicking synthetic fabrications are engineered in many different designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional natural fiber products. The Company's products are sold worldwide and worn by athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, on playing fields around the globe. The Under Armour global headquarters is in Baltimore, Maryland, with European headquarters in Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium, and additional offices in Denver, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Guangzhou, China. For further information, please visit the Company's Web site at www.underarmour.com.
About NACDA: NACDA, now in its 53rd year, is the professional and educational Association for more than 15,700 college athletics administrators at more than 1,700 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. More than 6,500 athletics administrators annually attend NACDA & Affiliates Convention Week. Additionally, NACDA manages 17 professional associations and three foundations. For more information on NACDA, visit www.nacda.com.