Photo courtesy of NCAA.org
2015 CoSIDA Convention schedule/programming and registration information HERE
NCAA.org feature: From there to here: Oliver Luck
Oliver Luck, noted intercollegiate athletics executive and member of the
Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame, will address the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) membership as the closing keynote speaker on Wednesday, June 17, the final day of the 2015 CoSIDA Convention.
The Convention is slated for Sunday-Wednesday, June 14-17 in Orlando, Florida at the Marriott World Center. The CoSIDA Convention takes place in conjunction with NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week at the World Center Marriott in Orlando. The CoSIDA Convention opening keynote speaker was announced previously.
Manny Ohonme, inspiring philanthropist and Samaritan's Feet founder and president, will give the kickoff keynote presentation on June 14.
In December of 2014, Luck was named NCAA Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. He was named to the newly created NCAA position, overseeing the day-to-day operations as he brings academic and membership affairs, the eligibility center and enforcement under one umbrella. In particular, he is charged with developing stronger integration among regulatory staffs, improving efficiency and strengthening relationships with NCAA colleges and universities.
Luck previously served as the director of athletics and associate vice president at West Virginia University from August 2010 until December, and was instrumental in getting the Mountaineers from the Big East to the Big 12 Conference.
Upon the announcement of Luck’s hire, NCAA President Mark Emmert stated that "I am very pleased to have Oliver joining our team in the national office. He brings to us wide-ranging, hands-on experience from across athletic, academic, and business worlds. Most important, his commitment to the success and well-being of our student-athletes is unquestionable. He has demonstrated that commitment on the ground and throughout his life."
As a standout quarterback at his alma mater West Virginia from from 1978-1981, Luck earned CoSIDA Academic All-America® honors twice and left West Virginia with most of the school’s passing records. He graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors from WVU in 1982 and was a Rhodes Scholar finalist. Luck was inducted into CoSIDA’s Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 2000.
Luck played five seasons with the Houston Oilers. He is the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, himself the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year (for Division I football) and a first team Academic All-America honoree.
"CoSIDA is honored to have such a distinguished athletics leader and administrator as Oliver Luck address our 2015 Convention attendees,” noted CoSIDA Second Vice President Andy Seeley of UCF, who oversees the convention programming in his VP role. “We also are thrilled to welcome an Academic All-American and Academic All-America® Hall of Famer as our concluding keynote speaker. Oliver Luck has been on the forefront of athletics reform, advocating for student-athlete involvement. As the new NCAA executive vice president, we know his message to the CoSIDA membership will be relevant to the demands in leadership and communication strategies that we all face as professionals in intercollegiate athletics.”
While at WVU, Luck was also a member of the inaugural College Football Playoff selection committee as the Big 12 representative and was on the Player Safety Advisory Panel for the National Football League.
Prior to his position at West Virginia, Luck served as the first president and general manager for the Major League Soccer Houston Dynamo club. After playing for Houston franchise from 1982 to 1986, he went on to be a general manager and vice president for the NFL before serving as the president of NFL Europe for four years.
After his playing career, Luck earned a law degree from University of Texas in 1987, graduating cum laude. In addition to son Andrew, he and his wife Kathy have three other children, including Mary Ellen (Stanford graduate and former Cardinal volleyball student-athlete); Emily and Addison.
Luck will be the most recent of an impressive line of notable and distinguished CoSIDA Convention keynote speakers:
• Last year, CoSIDA’s opening keynote was delivered by
Bob Beaudine, a leading executive recruiter in college sports and the author of the networking and relationship-building best-seller “The Power of WHO!” and the closing keynote speaker was Olympic volleyball gold medalist and motivational speaker Dain Blanton.
• In 2013,
best-selling author and America’s “Productivity Pro!” Laura Stack gave the opening address.
• In 2011,
Amy (Privette) Perko, noted intercollegiate athletics executive and Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame member, addressed the membership as keynote speaker.
•
Ari Fleisher, former White House Press Secretary and the chief executive and principal employee of Ari Fleischer Communications and Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, gave the 2010 opening address and then participated in a standing-room only panel on strategic messaging and crisis communications.
• In 2009,
Kevin Sullivan, former Assistant to the President for Communications in the White House who began his PR career as a Purdue University sports information student, addressed the attendees. In 2007, the late NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand spoke at the Convention.