Furman’s Jason Donnelly wins Athletic Director of the Year award

Furman Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Jason Donnelly has been named Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), it was announced today.

Donnelly, now in his fifth year as the head of Furman’s NCAA Division I athletics program, was among 28 honorees tabbed to receive NACDA’s AD of the Year Award (ADOY), which spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA, and Junior College/Community Colleges).  Winners will be recognized in conjunction with the 59th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., at the beginning of the Association-Wide Featured Session on Tuesday, June 11, starting at 4 p.m.

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.

“Congratulations to Jason for being named NACDA Athletics Director of the Year,” said Furman University President Elizabeth Davis. “The honor is well deserved.”

“Our student-athletes have had several remarkable seasons in men’s and women’s sports, on the field and in the classroom,” Davis said. “We’ve also received tremendous support from our students, alumni, fans and donors. That’s in large part to Jason’s leadership. Jason understands collegiate athletics, but more importantly he understands that at Furman we help students develop holistically, and we give them the opportunity to succeed in life after graduation.”

“I’m truly honored to receive this award on behalf of Furman University,” said Donnelly. “I have great respect for the impact and importance of NACDA, and I’m humbled to be included among this prestigious group of athletics directors across the nation. This special recognition is a great testament to the hard work, commitment, and success of our student athletes, coaches, staff, and everyone who supports them.”

“NACDA is honored to continue the tradition of the Athletics Director of the Year Award and recognize a new class of individuals for 2023-24,” said Pat Manak, NACDA Chief Executive Officer. “As an Association it is part of our mission to develop tomorrow’s leaders led by today’s decision makers, which is why it is so fitting that 21 of the 28 recipients of the ADOY award this year are first-time winners. We are proud to play a small role in growing the pipeline of athletics directors making an impact throughout the industry.”

The ADOY Award program is in its 26th year and has recognized a total of 584 deserving athletics directors to date.

Hired as Director of Athletics in August 2019 and promoted to Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics in 2022, Donnelly has delivered bold new energy, excitement, and vision to Paladin Athletics.

In the last reporting period Furman Athletics ranked among the nation’s best in Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and Academic Progress Rate (APR), while also claiming six Southern Conference championships and making seven NCAA Tournament appearances in 2023.  Furman Athletics topped the SoCon in the 2022-23 Learfield Director’s Cup competition, finishing 113th out of 294 Division I institutions.

Furman’s competitive success has been supported by Donnelly’s highly impactful leadership and work in the area of fundraising and engagement, evidenced in the fact that Paladin Athletics recorded its third consecutive record breaking fundraising year with over $19 million in commitments from nearly 3,000 donors, representing a 426 percent increase in annual fundraising since his arrival in 2019.

Thirty-three gifts of six or seven-figures were made last year in support of athletics, including the largest gift in Furman Athletics history — a $10 million commitment from Ravenel Curry ’63 to headline a $40 million renovation of Timmons Arena, announced in February, that will transform the current arena into a first class, state of the art facility while dramatically enhancing the game day experience and placing it among the best arenas in college basketball at its size and scale.

Fueled by the competitive success of its teams, over the last two years Furman has established new engagement and attendance records, logging a 930 percent increase in X (formerly Twitter), 800 percent increase in Facebook, and 275 percent increase in Instagram, along with three million impressions based on men’s basketball’s SoCon Tournament championship run and NCAA Tournament first round victory in 2023.  That success led to $41 million in earned media value for the university based on Neilsen Media research.

A recent graduate of Furman’s prestigious Diversity Leadership Initiative of the Riley Institute, Donnelly currently serves as chair of the SoCon’s Athletic Directors Committee and on the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Regional Advisory Committee.