Heartland’s Knox honored as Athletic Director of the Year by NACDA
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[March 28, 2022]
Ryan Knox of Heartland Community College has been named an Athletic
Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
The Cushman & Wakefield AD of the Year Award spans seven divisions
(NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year
Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). Knox is one of
only four Junior or Community College Athletic Directors to be
recognized this year.
"Under Ryan’s leadership Heartland Athletics has seen unprecedented
success for our students, both in competition and in the classroom,”
said Sarah Diel-Hunt, Heartland Vice President of Enrollment and
Student Services. “Over the last two years, Ryan led the department
through an expansion from four to nine sports, adding women’s and
men’s cross country, women’s volleyball, men’s golf and Esports. To
say the expansion has been a success is an understatement. This year
student athletes set records for team and athletic department GPA.
Additionally, all four Fall sports teams qualified for their
national championship tournaments with men’s cross country finishing
third in the nation, women’s cross country placing second and the
women’s soccer winning the first National Championship in the
history of the program. Clearly the recognition of the NACDA, which
is the highest honor an athletic director can receive, is well
deserved.”
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Knox has been at Heartland since 2006. While at Heartland he held
multiple roles serving as baseball coach from 2008-2013. Since 2013
he has served in the position of Director of Athletics & Fitness and
Recreation Center (FRC).
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.
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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 website at www.nacda.com.
About NACDA
Now in its 57th year, NACDA is the professional and educational
Association for more than 22,000 college athletics administrators at
more than 2,200 institutions throughout the United States, Canada
and Mexico. NACDA manages 17 professional associations and four
foundations. In addition to virtual programming, NACDA hosts five
major professional development events in-person annually. The NACDA
& Affiliates Convention is the largest gathering of collegiate
athletics administrators in the country. For more information, visit
http://www.nacda.com/.
[Steve Fast
Assistant to the President, Public Information and Communication
Heartland Community College]
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