The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has announced that Indiana Wesleyan University’s Mark DeMichael is one of 28 winners of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award.
“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.”
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.
The recognition spans seven different divisions of collegiate sports and DeMichael is one of four NAIA recipients. The AD of the Year award is to highlight the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses, and their surrounding communities.
“I am honored to have been chosen for the NACDA-Under Armour AD of the Year award,” said DeMichael. “These awards are a reflection of the outstanding coaches, student-athletes, administrators, and support staff that an athletic department has.”
DeMichael was previously honored for his work with the Indiana Wesleyan athletic department when he was voted by his colleagues as the Crossroads League AD of the Year for the 2014-15 season. That honor was the second of his career.
Under DeMichael’s leadership last season, Indiana Wesleyan had six Crossroads League championships, 23 NAIA All-Americans, and 95 NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
“I am blessed to be at a place that has leadership that is invested and supports athletics,” stated DeMichael. “We have coaches that believe in our mission and do amazing work with our student-athletes. And we have an amazing support staff that do their work at an incredibly high level. This award is more of a reflection of that than any one person.”
The former Wildcat baseball coach is in his eighth year as Athletic Director at Indiana Wesleyan. He has implemented the annual IWU Athletic Department Commissioning Service, spearheaded the Auckland, New Zealand Sports Ministry Blitz 2013, and helped bring the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships to Indiana Wesleyan in 2010-13. He currently is in his second season on the National Selection Committee for the NAIA Baseball National Championship.
DeMichael oversees 16 programs in the Indiana Wesleyan athletic department and will see the 17th program begin next year with the addition of women’s swimming & diving.