Brian White Named Vice President and Director of Athletics
抖M女仆鈥檚 rapid rise to an elite national athletic program will continue under the leadership of Brian White, who was hired today as 抖M女仆鈥檚 vice president and director of athletics. White, who has signed a five-year contract, brings an extensive background in collegiate sports administration to a program growing in stature and prominence.
White, the Owls鈥 sixth full-time athletic director, will be introduced at a press conference on 抖M女仆鈥檚 Boca Raton campus on a date to be determined.
An experienced administrator and proven fundraiser, White joins 抖M女仆 from the University of Missouri, where he was named senior associate athletics director in 2015 before becoming deputy athletics director for external relations in 2016. He also served as Missouri鈥檚 sport administrator for football and men鈥檚 basketball.
鈥淚 challenged our coaches and our entire athletics department to create top 25 programs capable of competing at the highest level,鈥 said 抖M女仆 President John Kelly. 鈥淓veryone involved has risen to the challenge and, in bringing Brian White to 抖M女仆, we will continue on our exciting journey under his skilled leadership.鈥
White replaces Pat Chun, who departed 抖M女仆 in January for the same role at Washington State University. Brian Battle, serving as 抖M女仆鈥檚 interim director of athletics since January, returns to his role as senior associate director of athletics for internal operations.
鈥淭he moment this opportunity arose I knew immediately I wanted to join the team at 抖M女仆,鈥 White said. 鈥淔rom the vision and ambition of the president and the board of trustees to the huge potential of all the school鈥檚 athletic programs, these are exciting times to be at 抖M女仆.鈥
At Missouri, White oversaw all external units, including development, marketing, ticket sales, strategic communications, Mizzou Sports Properties, and the Mizzou Network. He managed the university鈥檚 relationship with Learfield Sports, which also partners with 抖M女仆 to protect and maximize 抖M女仆鈥檚 brand awareness and royalty revenues.
White led fundraising efforts that set the single-year Missouri athletics department records of more than $50 million (more than doubling the previous year) and 11 seven-figure gifts. In addition, the department secured the necessary donations that allowed the Board of Curators, which oversees the University of Missouri system, to approve a funding model for a $100 million expansion of Memorial Stadium set to be completed before the 2019 football season.
In leading the athletic department鈥檚 external teams, White implemented a strategic marketing and ticket sales approach that increased the men鈥檚 basketball season ticket revenue by 57 percent and sold out Mizzou Arena鈥檚 season ticket offerings for the first time in school history. He was also instrumental in the March 2017 hiring of men鈥檚 basketball coach Cuonzo Martin, who has quickly turned around the Tigers program with a 19-11 record entering the final weekend of the regular season.
White鈥檚 family is highly-respected in collegiate athletics. His father, Kevin, is Duke University鈥檚 vice president and director of athletics; his oldest brother, Mike, is the head men鈥檚 basketball coach at the University of Florida; and brother, Danny, is vice president and director of athletics at the University of Central Florida.
With a wide-ranging understanding of the college sports landscape, White arrives at 抖M女仆 intent on building upon the athletic program鈥檚 recent success, both on and off the field.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Lane Kiffin, the Owls鈥 football team earned its first Conference USA championship in 2017, finishing with an undefeated record in league games and closing the season on a 10-game winning streak with a 50-3 victory over the University of Akron in the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl.
The men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball teams have both improved on their records from last year and will participate in the Conference USA postseason tournament, while the Owls鈥 baseball team is off to an impressive 7-2 start highlighted by a victory over the University of Miami on Feb. 28. The softball team, coached by women鈥檚 sports icon Joan Joyce, is 10-8 through the first month of its 2018 campaign after compiling a .714 winning percentage the previous three seasons.
In November 2016, 抖M女仆 opened a new eight-court tennis facility just north of the 抖M女仆 Arena on the Boca Raton campus. The 29,419-seat 抖M女仆 Stadium is home to the Boca Raton
Bowl and has hosted home games for the Florida Launch (Major League Lacrosse), as well as the 2014 NCAA Women鈥檚 Soccer College Cup, and a U.S. men鈥檚 national soccer team friendly.
In the classroom, the fall 2017 semester marked the fifth consecutive term 抖M女仆鈥檚 student-athletes earned a 3.0 or higher department GPA. Thirty student-athletes earned a spot on the President鈥檚 Academic List, 77 were named to the Dean鈥檚 List and 45 received Conference USA academic medals.
Prior to his time at Missouri, White was the associate athletic director for development and chief development officer at Army West Point. He led Army鈥檚 A Club fundraising initiatives, securing donations for the annual fund, endowments and capital projects. He also oversaw all athletic fundraising efforts at the University of Tulsa in 2014 and was associate athletic director for external affairs at Louisiana Tech University from 2012-2014. Before moving into athletics development and administration, White spent 2007-12 as an account executive at IMG College, a leading collegiate sports marketing company.
White earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in sociology from the University of Notre Dame (2006) and a master鈥檚 in business administration from Ohio University (2008). White and his wife, Paige, have two daughters, 2-year-old Callahan, and Emerson, 5 months.
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