CLEVELAND, Ohio - Trinity University Director of Athletics Bob King has been chosen for the NCAA Division III Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year.
The annual award is sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), and includes all NCAA Divisions, the NAIA, and junior/community colleges. King was one of only four athletic directors in Division III to achieve the honor.
This marks the third time King has received the prestigious award, having previously been honored by his peers in 2000 and 2004. King was appointed as AD in 1993, and is in his 22nd year on the job.
Since becoming Director of Athletics, Tiger teams have finished in the top-10 on five occasions in the prestigious Directors’ Cup Standings, of some 450 Division III institutions. Trinity has captured four NCAA national team championships during King’s tenure, in men’s and women’s tennis, women’s basketball, and men’s soccer. Six student-athletes have won 10 individual NCAA national titles: four women’s high jump, two men’s pentathlon, three women’s diving, and in 2014, men’s swimming. Six teams have advanced to the NCAA finals with King at the helm: men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball, football, and men’s and women’s soccer.
Tiger teams have also won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Presidents’ Trophy 15 times - including 2015 - as the best all-around program in the SCAC. King has led the Department of Athletics during most of Trinity’s 189 SCAC Championships.
Academic excellence has long been a tradition of Trinity, and King’s administration has enhanced that fact. Trinity moved into the top-10 rankings of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships during King’s tenure, as 36 Tigers have earned the distinction. Trinity student-athletes are regularly elected to the Academic All-America Teams, and qualify for the Dean’s List and SCAC Academic Honor Roll.
King has spearheaded the expansion and improvement of Trinity’s athletics facilities, including the current $14.2 million renovation project of the William H. Bell Athletic Center. In 2011, the soccer field was expanded and renamed the Paul McGinlay Soccer Field. The Butch Newman Tennis Center and Al G. Hill Jr. Tennis Stadium were dedicated in 2011. Mabry Pavilion, located at the tennis center, had a dedication in 2008. King is also working with architects on the development of new baseball and football facilities, which will be second to none in Division III.
He serves as the selection committee chair of the biennial Trinity Athletic Hall of Fame. King previously was a member of the NCAA Division III Championships Committee, and was chair of the SCAC Athletic Directors Council for two terms. He was also a member of five Local Organizing Committees for NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Final Fours, Division I Volleyball, and Division III Soccer and Tennis.
