MIKE HAMRICK, DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

Introduced as UNLV's 10th full-time Director of Athletics on Aug. 18, 2003, Mike Hamrick has undeniably made a positive impact on Southern Nevada as he enters his fifth year with the Rebels.

UNLV has enjoyed unparalleled success over the past three years under Hamrick's watch, winning 14 Mountain West Conference Championships, including five in 2006-07. During the 2004-05 season, the Rebels won a school-record six MWC Championships, claiming titles in baseball (regular season and tournament), women's golf (tournament), men's swimming (tournament), women's swimming (tournament) and women's soccer (regular season).

In addition to a strong three years in the MWC, several Rebel teams advanced to NCAA and NIT play: men's and women's basketball, women's soccer, baseball, softball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's swimming, women's track, and men's and women's tennis. This past season the Runnin' Rebel basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991, finishing with an overall record of 30-7 and a final ranking of 14th in the country. In addition, the Runnin' Rebels averaged 13,791 fans for home games during MWC play, UNLV's highest average attendance for league games since 1997-98.

Along with their excellence on the field, Rebel student-athletes have reached new heights outside of the stadiums as well in Hamrick's four years at UNLV. UNLV Athletics' most recent graduation numbers show an all-time record of graduating 63 percent of its student-athletes, which more than doubles the graduation rate from the year prior to Hamrick's arrival. Additionally, more than 61 percent of the student-athletes at UNLV had a grade point average of 3.0 or higher at one point this past year.

Recently Hamrick announced a new partnership between the Athletics Department and ISP Sports. The two entities will work together with UNLV's multi-media rights and corporate sales and sponsorship development for athletics, special events and entertainment, which will guarantee UNLV Athletics more than $32 million over the next 10 years. Also as part of the agreement, $3.5 million will be spent on equipment upgrades, which include a new center-hung scoreboard, a new LED ring beam and a new courtside signage system at the Thomas & Mack Center, a new marquee outside the arena, a new auxiliary scoreboard at Sam Boyd Stadium and a new baseball scoreboard at Wilson Stadium.

In his second year at UNLV Hamrick oversaw the restructuring of the Athletics Department to include direct oversight of the Thomas & Mack Center, Cox Pavilion and Sam Boyd Stadium in order to better serve the school's varsity sports. In the two years since, this area recorded its best financial period in UNLV's history. He also streamlined fundraising efforts with the introduction of the Rebel Athletic Fund, which has significantly increased the private donations to UNLV athletics.

In Hamrick's four years at UNLV, $2.5 million has been used to improve athletic facilities, including new lights at the Bill "Wildcat" Morris Rebel Park football practice facility, the total renovation of the Fertitta Tennis Complex and the Runnin' Rebel basketball locker room, and replacement of the soccer playing surface and irrigation system at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

Hamrick served as a member of the initial Bowl Championship Series AD Advisory Committee and is a current member of the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl Board of Directors. He is a past member of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee and chair of the West Region Baseball Committee, a position he held until September of 2006. He was also part of the UNLV Presidential Search Committee that selected Dr. David Ashley to be the school's next president.

Hamrick, who spent the previous eight years leading East Carolina University to unprecedented success, including overseeing $46 million in facility improvements, was no stranger to Las Vegas as he began his professional career at UNLV in 1981-82.

Prior to going to ECU in April 1995, Hamrick was the Director of Athletics at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, where he engineered the Trojans' move into the Sun Belt Conference. Before going to UALR, Hamrick served as assistant athletics director at Illinois State University from 1984-90. At ISU, he initiated and coordinated departmental external activities. He also served as Director of the Redbird Educational and Scholarship Fund.

Hamrick worked as Assistant to the Director of Athletics at the University of Kansas from 1982-84. While at UNLV in 1981-82, he worked in the athletic promotions area.

A 1980 graduate of Marshall University, Hamrick played football for the Thundering Herd and was a two-year starter (1978-79) at linebacker. In 1981 he received a master's degree from Ohio University, where he was also an assistant football coach. This past spring he earned the Ohio University's Sports Administration Program's Distinguished Alumus Award. Hamrick and his wife, Soletta, are the parents of three children - twin sons, Brett and Justin (19), and daughter, Mollie Ann (16).