The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced the 28 winners of the Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award with University of North Georgia Director of Athletics Lindsay Reeves honored as one of four NCAA Division II recipients. The award highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses and their surrounding communities.
The complete list of 2015-16 Under Armour AD of the Year winners was released Tuesday morning. Joining Reeves on the list of Division II honorees was Bill Fusco (Sonoma State), Jerry Hughes (Central Missouri) and Brian Swanson (Cal Poly Pomona).
"The successes of North Georgia athletics is a direct reflection the dedicated support from a wide range of people," stated Reeves. "The spirit and cohesiveness of our Nighthawk Nation is second to none, so an honor like this is a direct reflection of that larger group."
Under Armour is now in its eighth year of sponsoring the award and over 180 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 Nick Carparelli, Under Armour senior director of college sports. "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 within the last five years 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.
Reeves is in her 16th year at the University of North Georgia and the 2015-16 season will mark her sixth year as the Director of Athletics for the 12-sport intercollegiate program after investing five years as Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator. She is only the third athletic director in the history of UNG athletics and oversees 12 NCAA Division II sports, 48 athletic department employees, nine facilities and over 225 student-athletes.
Under her leadership, UNG athletic programs have enjoyed prosperity on and off the playing fields and courts, highlighted by the UNG softball team being crowned 2015 NCAA Division II National Champions. She has mentored teams to championships on the conference, regional and national levels while emphasizing the total student-athlete development.
Beginning in the fall of 2015, Reeves began serving a four-year term on the NCAA Division II Management Council. In addition, she is serving on the Division II Academic Requirements Committee, Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee, Division II Convention Planning Project Team and the Division II Military Pilot Project Team.
In the fall of 2014, she was named the National Association of Collegiate Womens' Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) NCAA Division II Administrator of the Year, presented annually to NACWAA members for significant contributions made as athletics administrators. Reeves is currently serving on the NACWAA Educational & Professional Development Committee.
She graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Science in physical education and received her master's in exercise physiology from University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill.
