RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics announced on Tuesday the hiring of Darius Maize as Assistant Athletic Director for Corporate Partnerships.
 
In his new role, Maize will oversee the curation, development, and management of all corporate partners for UTRGV Athletics. To accomplish these objectives, he will oversee all marketable inventory items, strengthen relationships with current partners, ensure that all obligations are met between partners and UTRGV Athletics, and develop and execute a comprehensive strategic plan.
 
Maize joins UTRGV Athletics after spending the last three years working at power institutions Arkansas and SMU. Maize brings 10 years of experience working in collegiate athletics including two years of working under UTRGV's Senior Vice President/Director of Athletics, Chasse Conque.
 
"I am pleased to welcome Darius and excited to have him join our talented external team" Conque said. " Few things are more rewarding than having the opportunity to reunite with talented people you know and trust. Darius' diverse background in administration, operations, and external relations makes him an outstanding fit for this position, and I look forward to working alongside him once again. Let me be the first to officially welcome him and his family to the Rio Grande Valley."
 
Maize spent the last year as the Manager of External Event Operations for Arkansas. In that role, Maize served as a cross-departmental liaison, working with the facilities, marketing, security, food & beverage teams, and executive leadership around shared events. Maize also worked on standardizing and optimizing workflows across the department. In addition, he also worked as a strategic advisor and led and delivered high profile events for Arkansas.
 
Prior to joining Arkansas, Maize worked as the Chief of Staff for SMU Athletics. In that role, Maize facilitated meetings of athletics task force, comprised of unit leaders and the leadership team, supervised the task force, directed the planning and execution of department-wide meetings, and led a team to create a formal athletics facility rental process.
 
"We're excited to welcome Darius to the Valley and to have him join our team," Senior Associate Athletic Director/Chief Revenue Officer Derek Schramm said. "His experience, skillset, and demeanor will be a valuable addition to our already talented staff. We're blessed to have such great support from our corporate partners, and I know they will love working with Darius. We look forward to continue building something special with Darius on board, while also serving our partners and supporters at a high level."
 
Prior to joining SMU, Maize spent seven years with Little Rock, serving in various roles in the internal operations unit. Maize started as an Internal Operations Assistant in July 2017 and ended his tenure as Deputy Athletics Director/Internal Operations in April 2023.
 
"I'd like to thank Chasse Conque and Derek Schramm for trusting me with this amazing opportunity," Maize said. "I've been watching from afar and can say, without a doubt, that there's no better time to be joining the team. There's a lot of positive momentum at UTRGV and I look forward to working with my colleagues, the community and corporate partners current and new."
 
While at Little Rock, Maize developed strategy to increase revenue generated through athletic facilities, supervised the facility, event management, and operations team, built relationships with campus partners, provided administrative insight on over $3.4 million in capital projects, and he collaborated with the Masters of Sports Management program to create an internship opportunity, awarded annually to one post-grad student. Maize also served as the sport administrator for the track & field and swimming & diving programs.
 
Maize has served on a wide range of councils throughout his career, including but not limited to, the Chancellor's Strategic Planning Committee, the COVID-19 Task Force, Coronavirus Emergency Response Team, Diversity Council, Staff Senate, and Steering Committee Member at Little Rock. While at SMU, Maize went through the Sports Management Institute and served on the Staff Advocacy Council and was a Campus Climate Survey Committee Member.
 
Maize earned his Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Baylor in 2015 and his Master of Science in Sport Administration from Arkansas State in 2018.
 
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