A 2018 NACDA Under Armour Division I-AAA Athletic Director of the Year, Chris King has served as Director of Athletics since October 1, 2009.
As the leader of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, Chris King’s proactive style and leadership have helped the department reach new heights and lay a solid foundation for future growth and success.
Inspired by the growth and innovation of the Rio Grande Valley, King has made it UTRGV Athletics’ goal to EleVate the standard of Division I Athletics and proudly represent the university in competition, in the classroom, and in the community.
In order to accomplish that goal, King unveiled a new five-year strategic plan in Feb. 2017. The focus of this strategic plan is to improve the student-athlete experience and lead UTRGV Athletics to become the industry standard of the WAC and Division I. The five main goals include student success and experience, the 3 F’s: facilities, finance and fundraising, competitive excellence, promoting a culture of integrity, and branding and engagement.
King also redefined UTRGV Athletics’ culture, vision, core values, expectations and beliefs, under the mantra of, “16 Sports, 1 Team.” Part of the new culture is ensuring an end product of academic success, social responsibility, competitive excellence, fan experience, community engagement and leadership development.
UTRGV Athletics has seen considerable elevation in academics, competition, facilities, revenue generation, diversity and equity, and community service during King’s tenure. Much of the elevation has occurred since King secured a bid into the Western Athletic Conference starting with the 2013-14 season, ending a period of 15 years without access to an automatic qualifier to NCAA Championship-level events.
Academics
The department pushed its cumulative grade point average (GPA) to 3.18 in 2017-18, with a 143 student-athletes earning 2018 Spring AD Honor Roll recognition after a record 152 student-athletes earned the honor in the fall for boasting a GPA of at least 3.0. Student-athletes continue to maintain higher GPAs and graduation rates than their peers in the general student body. The student-athlete graduation success rate has jumped from 54 to 78 percent over the last nine years.
Competition
UTRGV won its first team WAC Regular Season Championship in any sport in 2017-18, as women’s tennis went 5-0 in WAC play en route to an appearance in the WAC Tournament Championship match for the second time in three years. Women’s tennis won the WAC Tournament Championship in 2016. Volleyball also reached the WAC Tournament Championship match, doing so for the second year in a row after winning the title in 2016.
UTRGV added seven individual WAC Championships in track & field, including five during the indoor season and two during the outdoor season while sending two student-athletes to the NCAA Outdoor West Preliminary Round.
Since joining the WAC in the fall of 2013, UTRGV has won three team and 23 individual WAC Championships.
Making the postseason is becoming a regular occurrence, as the men’s basketball team reached the CBI in 2018, marking the program’s first postseason bid since 1981, the volleyball and women’s tennis teams made their respective NCAA Tournaments in 2016, and the women’s basketball team made three-straight postseason appearances from 2015-17, winning its first-ever postseason home game in of 2017.
Other successes in 2017-18 include the men’s golf team winning two tournaments and finishing in the top five in each of its last six events, and women’s basketball getting off to the best start (9-2) in program history. UTRGV boasted 39 All-WAC performers and 29 WAC Athletes of the Week.
Facilities
Under King’s leadership, UTRGV has completed numerous facilities upgrades. In 2017-18, UTRGV upgraded the lighting in and around the fieldhouse to LEDs and installed a new sound system. UTRGV also built a new training room, a new concession stand, a new equipment room, and a new media room while renovating the locker room hallways.
The next phase of upgrades for the fieldhouse, which are scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2019, includes renovations to the home, visiting and officials’ locker rooms, the installation of new entrance doors, and the creation of additional storage space.
Revenue Generation
Over the last three years, King and the fundraising and external sales staff have achieved increases in fundraising of 196 percent, ticket sales of 87 percent, and corporate sponsorship revenue of 73 percent.
The increase in ticket sales is due in-part to a 43 percent increase in game attendance in 2017-18.
Over the last nine years, King has secured numerous six and seven-figure major gifts through gifts for capital projects, planned giving, and endowed scholarships. This includes a $1 million planned gift from Dan and Terry Martinez in June 2017.
New Builds
The $4.55 million UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex opened in Oct. 2014 to host the first season of women’s soccer and then, in 2015, the return of men’s soccer. The complex also hosted the 2017 WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Capital Projects
In the Feb. 2017, UTRGV completed the Coach Al and Joann Ogletree Plaza, which features a statue of legendary Baseball Head Coach Emeritus Al Ogletree and a plaque of late wife, Joann, on top of a bricks placed in the shape of a baseball at the entrance to UTRGV Baseball Stadium.
King arranged the donation of the $6.5 million baseball stadium from the City of Edinburg to the university in Oct. 2014, and has since conducted significant renovations as part of a capital project, including the installation of a new video board and scoreboard.
King also moved UTRGV Athletics into a new strength & conditioning facility in 2013-14 and completed a capital project in the spring of 2015 to acquire new equipment.
Renovations
King has completed numerous renovations to the UTRGV Fieldhouse, including the addition of the largest indoor video board in the Rio Grande Valley (34.45'x11.81') by securing a $250,000 gift from Coca-Cola Refreshments in 2012. King has since resurfaced the court and upgraded the basketball team and locker rooms with new lockers, furniture, carpeting and graphics.
The Orville Cox Tennis Center has been upgraded during King’s tenure, with six resurfaced courts, new fences, new windscreens, new walkways and a new entrance.
In the summer of 2017, UTRGV Athletics secured a $100,000 grant from the NCAA Accelerating Academic Success Program Committee to make immediate improvements to the Victory Center with the purpose of directly influencing student-athletes’ progress toward degree and APR requirements. This injection of funds provided upgrades for facility renovations, additional technology, and professional development efforts. Over the last five years, UTRGV Athletics has received over $300,000 in grants from this NCAA program.
King also oversaw the renovation of office space for women’s basketball, tennis, golf, and track & field, creating additional office space for five head coaches and three assistant coaches.
Diversity and Equity
King’s main priority upon becoming Director of Athletics was advancing his belief in a culture of integrity, including rules compliance, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
King completed the Title IX/Gender Equity Plan by starting women’s soccer in 2014, adding 7.0 scholarships to fully fund men’s track & field, 1.8 scholarships to fully fund baseball, 1.5 scholarships to fully fund men’s golf, and 1.5 scholarships to fully fund men’s tennis. Another part of the plan included the creation of two new head coaching positions, as the university went from having one coach for both tennis teams and one for both golf teams to having separate coaches for each team. King also set up the track & field and volleyball teams to add an assistant coach.
Community Service
After completing the 15th-highest total of community service hours in NCAA Division I and 20th-highest overall in the NCAA Team Works Competition for NCAA DI, DII, and DIII athletic departments and student-athletes in 2015-16, UTRGV Athletics set an all-time record in service and volunteering, outreach and engagement, campus engagement, and networking hours of service in 2017-18.
Leadership Positions
King’s accomplishments led to his selection as the current Third Vice President of the NACDA DI-AAA Athletic Director Association and the chair of the NACDA DI-AAA Athletic Director Association Mentoring Committee. King served as a member of the NCAA Division I Nominating Committee from 2016-18 and the former NCAA Division I Legislative Council. King also has held multiple leadership positions with the WAC, serving as the WAC council chair, the strategic plan chair and the men’s basketball chair.
Prior to UTRGV, King spent seven years (2002-09) at the University of Alabama as an Associate Athletic Director. King’s athletic career began in 1995 at Campbell University as a compliance assistant. He then moved to Liberty University, where he was the Director of Compliance and Special Events. He later worked at the University of Central Florida, where he served as Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Internal Operations.
King is married to the former Alicia Flowers, who is the Associate Vice President for Development at UTRGV. They reside in McAllen with their two daughters, eight-year old Kylie Marie, and five-year old Mackenzie Elizabeth.
You can follow King on Twitter: @UTRGV_AD.
