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Jack Frost To Retire After 27 Years At Winthrop
Jack Frost Photo Gallery
Jack Frost (Winthrop University), Lifetime Achievement Award
by Will Parrish, Freelance Writer
Jack and wife Kathye at a Winthrop Awards Dinner.
The seed that grew and blossomed into a stellar career in sports information for Winthrop University's retiring Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Jack Frost, was planted on a Little League baseball field in Richmond, Ky., more than 50 years ago.
That career, which includes four years in the newspaper business, 14 years at Eastern Kentucky University and 27 at Winthrop, will end in June when Frost finalizes a job he loves.
Frost has personified dependability, passion, loyalty and excellence in a career that will culminate with a 2017 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award this June at the organization's annual convention.
"When I was 15, I was hired by the Richmond Little League to keep the scorebook, compile statistics and maintain the standings for the
Richmond Daily Register, along with performing field maintenance," Frost recalled. "Then, during my first year on the high school baseball team I kept the book, wrote game stories and hand delivered them to the local paper."
Frost was hooked.
Nearly seven years later Frost became the news editor for that same paper and served there four years before being hired at EKU, his alma mater, as features and news editor, positions he held from 1976-1984.
After he enrolled at EKU as a freshman in 1968, he worked as a sports writer for Karl Park, a lifelong friend, who was sports editor for the
Eastern Progress school newspaper.
Frost succeeded Park as sports editor of the paper and worked his way up to editor-in-chief. Then in graduate school, he was hired as news editor of his hometown
Richmond Daily Register where he had honed his skills as a high school stringer. In 1976, he re-joined Park in the Division of Public Information at EKU.
"Jack and I grew up in the same neighborhood as best friends, played ball against each other in youth leagues and high school and then on an amateur softball team," Park recalled.
"I became SID at Eastern in 1970 and was stationed in the public information office. Jack joined the staff a few years later. In 1984 I had a chance to hire the first fulltime assistant as the SID office was being moved to athletics. Hiring Jack was a no brainer. He had all the qualities you look for. He could write, knew the sports, had a great personality, and had great skills in layout and page design."
During the annual summer CoSIDA conventions, Jack became friends with Sam Copeland, who was then the Winthrop SID. Never did the thought that one day he would succeed Copeland at the Rock Hill, S.C. school enter Frost's mind.
"I visited Rock Hill during the summer of 1989 on the way home from a Myrtle Beach vacation and Sam showed me around the Winthrop campus," Frost said. "The following summer Sam resigned from the SID position. I applied, interviewed and two weeks later (then-associate AD) Tom Hickman called and offered me the job. I started work on October 15 which was the first day of basketball practice.
"I was given a great opportunity to work for an outstanding university and athletic department. I had originally planned on working another year, but as we all know in life, plans are subject to change."
When Frost arrived at The Winthrop Coliseum back in 1990 the office did not have a computer and stats were being done by hand. Frost brought his own computer to work and began a new era of compiling statistics and cranking out press releases and publications.
"I remember how excited the basketball coaches were when they learned box scores would be available in less than five minutes instead of 30 to 45 minutes," he said.
He brought Winthrop into the internet age, introduced courtside statistics to Winthrop and the Big South Conference, and eventually expanded radio broadcasts and internet streaming while hiring additional staff to handle social media and video services.
In 2003 and 2004, Frost worked with Hickman to establish the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame and advocated for the formation of the Big South Conference's Hall of Fame, BSC's All-Academic team and scholar-athlete of the year awards in each sport.
In addition to handling publicity for the numerous Big South championship volleyball and women's and men's tennis teams, Frost spearheaded the regional and national media coverage during the Winthrop's men's basketball Big South Conference dynasty that saw the Eagles capture nine conference championships and make nine NCAA tournament appearances over a 12-year period from 1999-2010. Winthrop's first NCAA tournament appearance in 1999 resulted in the university receiving more than $2 million in national media exposure. Frost received a Presidential Citation for his role in that achievement.
Frost has also steered 14 interns and graduate assistants into the SID profession. Brett Redden was Winthrop's first fulltime assistant SID and has been working side-by-side with Frost for 16 years.
"Jack took a chance on me knowing I didn't have any experience in sports information other than covering Winthrop sports for the local and school newspapers for a few years," Redden said.
"I'll never be able to repay him for helping me find a career that I love and even more so doing that job at a school that I have such a passion for. I don't even have words for the opportunity Jack provided me and helping me learn the skills to do the job well."
And, finally there's one area of his life that has followed him everywhere, and that is his name.
"I did get some kidding about it when I was young," Frost recalled with a smile. "But actually it's been an advantage. I usually tell people I meet for the first time that I have a really cool name and they won't have any trouble remembering it."
The name has certainly served him well.
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