Drutz, Assistant AD and Sports Information Director at St. Peter's, will be honored as the University Division "Rising Star" recipient for his service, dedication, energy and enthusiasm to the profession. Drutz joins Sarah Meier (from the College Division) as the 2010 "Rising Star" recipients. see also on CoSIDA.com: May 5, 2010: Sarah Meier to receive CoSIDA College Division Rising Star Award at annual Convention
by Tom Di Camillo (Central Arizona College), CoSIDA 3rd Vice PresidentQUEEN CREEK, Ariz. – The ride up the New Jersey Turnpike to Rockville Center, N.Y. wasn’t really that long for Dan Drutz. The drive from his parent’s home in Washington Township, N.J. to his choice of bridges that connected New Jersey to New York took as long as getting from New York City to Molloy College for the interview.
Fresh out of West Chester University, Drutz had summered in Reading, Pa., with the Phillies’ Double AA program making sure cameras worked and fans didn’t park their cars too close to the railroad track that skirted by the stadium.
The interview at Molloy was a bit of a long shot – he was the sixth man on a six-headed totem poll jutting from the athletic department den.
Bob Houlihan, the athletic director at Molloy who held just about every other job in the department, read over Drutz’s resume and agreed to give the young music education major an interview. At the very least, it would give him real practice at sharpening his skills and give him hope to avoid the dreaded middle school music teacher job he really didn’t want.
By the time Drutz drove back home after his interview at Molloy, Houlihan was on the phone calling him with a job offer. He had made the most of his opportunity then, and he is still doing so today.
On Monday, July 5, Drutz will receive the Rising Start Award (University Division) from CoSIDA during the organization’s Kickoff Luncheon at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, Calif. The event is part of the annual CoSIDA convention being held July 4-7 in the City by the Bay.
Now the assistant director of athletics at NCAA Division I Saint Peter’s College in New Jersey, Drutz is about to complete his first 10 years in sports information.
“We are proud of Dan’s accomplishments and congratulate him on receiving this prestigious award from his peers, Patrick Elliott, the director of athletics at Saint Peter’s, said. “Dan is a tireless professional who always gets the job done in a quality manner. He is very much deserving of this recognition and certainly has a bright future in college athletics.”
The Rising Star Award is presented to a University Division member and a College Division member annually with 10 years of service or less whose work at their institution and service, dedication, energy and enthusiasm to the profession make that individual a “rising star” in sports information. The CoSIDA Special Awards Committee votes on the honor.
“I am truly honored to be receiving this prestigious award from CoSida,” Drutz said. “CoSida has given me the opportunity to not only grow in my profession, but to meet people from across the nation who have helped me do my job better.”
In his 10 years in the business, Drutz has been a member of CoSida’s program committee and has led several panels as a moderator as well as being a panelist. He has been at the forefront of educating SIDs about StatCrew, the most popular statistical program used by the NCAA.
Drutz began his Division I career at Saint Peter’s in September of 2005. This past year, he was instrumental in bringing ESPN to Jersey City to broadcast the first ever college basketball game played at 6 a.m. local time as part of ESPN’s 24 hours of college basketball marathon.
This marked the second time in his tenure that the Peacocks gained national media attention. In his first year, the men’s basketball team reached the 2006 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship Game led by conference player of the year Keydren Clark.
During Clark's senior season, Drutz secured national media attention for the Peacocks with stories published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, ESPN The Magazine and Sports Illustrated. The team also was featured on ESPN and MSG several times during the season.
Drutz also was part of the 2007 men's soccer squad that became the first team in the history of the college to advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament as an at-large representative.
While at Saint Peter’s Drutz developed a new athletic website, created record books for several sports, and has brought live stats, live audio streaming, and live video streaming to the campus. He also is involved in the marketing, promotion and fundraising efforts of Saint Peter’s Athletics and has served as acting head coach of the men’s golf team and more recently the softball team this past season.
Drutz arrived at Saint Peter’s after serving as the director of sports information at Molloy College for five years. While at Molloy, Drutz created the sports information office, printing the first ever media guides for several sports, while also developing record books and redesigning the athletics website.
During his first year at Molloy, the baseball team claimed its inaugural New York Collegiate Athletic Conference for a male sport at the school. He also was part of the men's lacrosse team's ECAC II Championship.
While at Molloy, Drutz also served as the sports information contact for the NYCAC (now the East Coast Conference) and was the NYCAC’s liaison to the NCAA during development of its Division II mission.
Before arriving at Molloy in 2000, Drutz was a communications intern for the Reading Phillies. His experience also includes four years as a student assistant in the sports information office at West Chester University (Pa.) where he was the sports information contact for the women's lacrosse team. The team was a perennial national power that eventually captured a national championship.
A 2000 graduate of West Chester, Drutz also earned a master’s degree from Adelphi University in 2005.
During his career, he has worked at the Frozen Four, four Division I Men’s Basketball Regionals and four first/second rounds, three Women’s Basketball first/second rounds and a Women's Regional, two Men’s Lacrosse National Championships, and three Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championships.
He also worked the NCAA Division II Sports Festival, the NCAA Division II Football playoffs, and was the public address announcer for two NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championships.