Indianapolis Announces Staff Changes
The University of Indianapolis athletic department announced the hiring of Ryan Thorpe, the school's new Assistant Sports Information Director and promotion of Mitch Wigness, who will serve as Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Information. Thorpe joined the Greyhounds in July and Wigness is entering his second year at UIndy.
Thorpe worked on the gameday statistics crews at UIndy in the 2005-06 season, heading stat operations for volleyball and basketball. He also aided the football, baseball and softball staffs with gameday coverage.
He will be the primary contact for Greyhound volleyball, womens basketball and baseball, among others, in addition to his duties coordinating the statistics crews and lending his efforts to media publications and maintaining the athletics website. He is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Thorpe earned his bachelors degree from Purdue University in 2000.
Wigness joined the University of Indianapolis athletic department in May 2005. Under his direction, the athletics website received a major overhaul in the 2005-06 season, launching an exciting new home for Greyhound athletics in May 2006.
Wigness came to UIndy from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where he was assistant director of media relations for three years. He also served as an editor for Sioux Illustrated, a bi-monthly athletics publication. He also hosted a pre-game show at the prestigious Ralph Engelstad Arena, which aired prior to each Fighting Sioux men's hockey home game.
Prior to his stint in his home state of North Dakota, he was a sports information assistant at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. He earned his bachelor's degree in telecommunications and film from Eastern Michigan University in 2000.
The 31-year-old Wigness has worked numerous NCAA championship events, most recently serving as the media coordinator for the 2006 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships held in Indianapolis. He was also the media coordinator for the 2005 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Elite Eight tournament in Grand Forks, N.D. Other championships he's been involved with include the Division II football, women's basketball and past swimming and diving championships. He was the press conference moderator for the 2005 IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and lent his efforts to the WCHA Final Five men's ice hockey tournament for three years.
He has won numerous CoSIDA awards for his work, including five "Best in the Nation" notations.