Rhoades Named 2020 Under Armour AD of the Year

Baylor Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack B. Rhoades IV was selected by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as a recipient of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award for 2019-20.

The award spans seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). All NACDA-member directors of athletics in the United States, Canada and Mexico who met the criteria were eligible for the award. 

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.

Rhoades has led Baylor’s intercollegiate athletics department since July 2016. His service to Baylor is centered on his vision of Preparing Champions for Life, which seeks to enrich the student-athlete experience by focusing on the areas of academic achievement, athletic success, character formation and spiritual growth.

 “During the almost four years Mack has served as our vice president and director of athletics, he has been the guiding force behind the incredible success of our entire athletics department and an exceptional member of my leadership team,” Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D., said.

Rhoades’s leadership has been instrumental to success in a number of areas:

• Baylor Football playing in the Big 12 Championship Game and the 2020 Allstate Sugar Bowl and Women’s Volleyball winning the Big 12 Championship, earning a No. 1 national ranking and reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in the fall of 2019.
• Advancing 17 of Baylor’s 19 intercollegiate teams to postseason play in 2018-19, including an NCAA Championship in Women’s Basketball and a fifth consecutive national title in Acrobatics & Tumbling in the spring of 2019.
• Winning six Big 12 team championships in 2018-19: Soccer (regular season), Men’s Golf (match play), Women’s Basketball (regular season and tournament), Equestrian (tournament) and Men’s Tennis (tournament).
• Leading national searches for four head coaching positions, ultimately bringing to the Baylor campus Matt Rhule (football) in 2016, Casie Maxwell (equestrian) in 2017, Brian Boland (men’s tennis) in 2018 and Dave Aranda (football) in 2020.
• A school record-tying four Baylor student-athletes being named Big 12 Scholar-Athletes of the Year for their respective sports in 2018-19, tied for most in the conference.
• A 3.25 cumulative GPA for Baylor student-athletes in 2018-19.
• Leading the Big 12 in Graduation Success Rate for the fifth straight year in 2018-19.
• Overseeing the completion of several key athletics facilities and the planning for those to come, including the Billy W. Williams Golf Practice Facility and Clubhouse, the newest addition to the University’s athletic facilities, in November 2018 and the upcoming Football Operations Center and Baylor Basketball Pavilion, partially funded by a $100 million gift received in May 2019.

 “Mack has achieved remarkable success in leading our athletics program to arguably its greatest heights in school history, and his example of values-based leadership has aligned with our University mission and uplifted the entire Baylor community,” Livingstone said.