Hathaway A Finalist For Sports Business Award

STORRS, Conn. (May 1, 2008) – University of Connecticut Director of Athletics Jeffrey Hathaway is one of four finalists for an inaugural Sports Business Award by Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal. Hathaway was nominated in the category of “Athletic Director of the Year” and there are a total of 11 different categories such as sports executive, sport event marketing firm and professional sports team.

Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal is a national weekly trade magazine serving the sports industry.  Since its launch in 1998, it has become the leading periodical on the business of sports and is widely distributed to top sports executives across the country.

The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, May 29, 2008 in New York City. Hathaway is joined in the athletic director category by Gene Smith of Ohio State, Ron Wellman of Wake Forest and former UConn director of athletics Lew Perkins, now at Kansas.

“I am honored and humbled to be nominated for this award,” says Hathaway. “This is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the entire UConn Division of Athletics family – our student-athletes, coaches, staff and all others who assist us in achieving our academic and athletic goals.  I am very appreciative of all the efforts made at UConn to strive for excellence in all that we undertake in Athletics and throughout the entire University.”

Hathaway’s tenure as UConn Director of Athletics has arguably been the most successful in school history.

In the current 2007-08 academic year, the football team won the BIG EAST Championship and played in a bowl game for the second time in four years, the women’s basketball team played in the NCAA Final Four and the field hockey team advanced to the national championship semifinals for the second consecutive year. In addition, both the men’s and women’s soccer teams played in the NCAA quarterfinal and the men’s basketball team was in the NCAA Championship.  BIG EAST Conference championships have been won by the field hockey, men’s soccer, women’s basketball and men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams.

Some significantly historic achievements have occurred during Hathaway’s time as Director of Athletics. UConn became the first school to win the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball championship in the same year (2004) and the football team participated and was victorious in its first bowl game – the 2004 Motor City Bowl.

Private fundraising for UConn athletics continues to reach great heights in providing exceptional academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes as more than $75 million has been raised during Hathaway’s tenure as Director. 

Hathaway has represented the University on a number of NCAA and BIG EAST Conference committees providing the school with a strong presence nationally. In 2007-08, Hathaway began a five-year term on the prestigious NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.