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CoSIDA Hall of Fame
The class, which will be honored at the 2022 CoSIDA Convention in Las Vegas in June, is comprised of four active CoSIDA members (Mark Brand of Arizona State, Gina Lehe of the NCAA, Executive Board member Lenny Reich of Mount Union and Steve Roe of Iowa), and two selections from the veteran's group, both former CoSIDA Presidents (Joe Hernandez, formerly of Ball State and the late Bob Smith of Rutgers.)
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) will honor nearly 60 members, distinguished media and collegiate administrators with its 2022 Special Awards, the association’s annual awards of distinction.
These Special Awards, to be announced throughout the week of Feb. 21-25, are presented for outstanding contributions to the organization. All honors will be presented at CoSIDA’s 65th annual convention June 26-29 at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.
The 2022 CoSIDA Hall of Fame class highlights the Special Awards. In addition to the Hall of Fame, other Special Awards recognize emerging leaders, community service, lifetime achievement, organization trailblazer, outstanding media contribution, and 25-Year service honors. They will be announced throughout the week.
CoSIDA is comprised of intercollegiate athletic communications and creative professionals from colleges, universities and athletic conferences at all divisions of competition in the United States and Canada.
“On behalf of the CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors, I send my heartiest congratulations to each of our 2022 special award winners,” stated CoSIDA President Cindy Potter, Columbia College Senior Deputy Athletics Director. “These are well-deserved recognitions for extraordinary service and commitment.
We have an outstanding group of individuals who you will get to meet through the awards announcement and upcoming feature stories, and then in their in-person recognition at our June convention. These well-deserved recognitions are by peer nomination and vote, and we are proud to recognize everyone.”
"I congratulate and salute all of our 2022 Special Awards recipients. We refer to these as 'special' awards as they recognize very special, talented and committed people,” noted CoSIDA Executive Director Doug Vance. “We look forward to our annual awards where we recognize achievement at the highest level throughout our profession and beyond.”
Highlighting the 2022 honorees are six new CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductees:
- Mark Brand – Arizona State University, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Media Relations
- Joe Hernandez – former Ball State University Associate Director of Athletics /past CoSIDA President
- Gina Lehe – NCAA, Managing Director of Communications - Strategy and Branding
- Lenny Reich – University of Mount Union, Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director
- Steve Roe – University of Iowa, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications
- Bob Smith – former Rutgers University Sports Information Director/past CoSIDA President (deceased)
These six members of the Hall of Fame class will be inducted into the Hall on Monday, June 27 in ceremonies during a special CoSIDA Celebrations Award night presented by ESPN (5:30-7 pm) at the Mandalay Bay Resort.
This year, Hernandez and Smith are the two former SIDS selected as part of the Veteran's Committee nominations. Veterans Committee Hall of Fame inductees represent former sports information professionals of distinction from the past whose professional and personal deeds and accomplishments helped make possible the stature of the sports information profession today. The inaugural Veterans Committee selections were named on June 25, 2009 at the San Antonio Convention.
Each of these six 2022 CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductees will join their predecessors on the CoSIDA Hall of Fame plaques that are on permanent display at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis.
“I am incredibly proud and honored to recognize this distinguished CoSIDA Hall of Fame class of 2022,” stated Potter. “What an amazing milestone for each of you! We thank Mark, Gina, Lenny, Joe, Steve and Bob for being consistent champions for this profession, mentors to many and a shining example of passion and dedication.”
“To be selected as a member of your national association’s hall of fame class is the ultimate compliment,” Vance said. “It serves as the conclusive statement that you have been among the very best in your profession. I salute Mark, Gina, Lenny, Joe, Steve and Bob for their commitment to excellence and achieving this meaningful honor.”
In March, April and May, feature stories on all Special Awards recipients will be posted on CoSIDA.com and on CoSIDA social channels.
Daily announcements of the 2022 CoSIDA Special Awards will be released throughout the week of Feb. 21-25. The 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame Class and the 2022 Dick Enberg Award winner will be announced at a later date.
Here's a closer look at the CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
Established in 1969, CoSIDA inducted 39 individuals in its inaugural class. A total of 236 members have been inducted to date. See CoSIDA Hall of Fame all-time inductees.
Mark Brand – Arizona State University (Senior Associate AD, Media Relations)
Award-winning athletic communications leader.
One of the deans of West Coast athletic communications,
Mark Brand has served the profession for over four decades.
A CoSIDA member since 1981, Brand began his career as a four-year student intern in the Purdue University sports information office in 1978. After graduating from Purdue in 1981, his first full-time position was at East Carolina University as an assistant SID (1981-83) before he headed West to Arizona State where he held the assistant SID position from 1983-87, responsible for baseball, men's basketball and football media relations.
He became Sports Information Director in 1987 and has been a member of the Senior Administration at ASU for decades. He is the longest-tenured Sun Devil Media Relations Office employee, and longest-tenured media relations director, in Arizona State University history.
At ASU, Brand has served as the Media Coordinator for 11 NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball First & Second Rounds and Regional Championships. His outstanding work and service to the media was recognized by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) with one of FWAA’s 2019 Super 11 Awards. During his tenure, Brand also has earned numerous publications honors from CoSIDA. He earned his CoSIDA 25-Year Award in 2007.
Brand has long-time involvement in college football associations, serving as a member of the Board of Directors and Vice-President of The Valley of the Sun Chapter of The National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame since 1989. Brand is a member of the District 7 Screening Committee of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
Joe Hernandez – Formerly of Ball State University (Associate Director of Athletics)
Past CoSIDA President
Forward-thinking CoSIDA president and mentor.
Joe Hernandez served as CoSIDA President during the 2012-13 year during his long-time service at Ball State University, his alma mater.
He served in a variety of roles at Ball State for nearly 36 years, ending his tenure in 2019 as an Associate Athletics Director, a role he held from 2002-19. He started as assistant SID (1986-90) before becoming Director of Sports Information (1990-95), Assistant AD (1999-2002) and then Associate AD for Sports and Alumni Relations where he also oversaw sports supervision for soccer, men’s and women’s golf, athletic training/strength and conditioning. During his time at Ball State, Hernandez guided numerous student assistants and staff members to careers in communications.
Hernandez served as Athletic Director at Lafayette Jefferson High School in Muncie, Ind. for two years prior to taking his current position at Daktronics as a sales representative – large sports venues.
Hernandez was the first Hispanic president of CoSIDA, and was followed by Herb Vincent in 2019-20.
Hernandez served a nine-year term on CoSIDA’s board of directors, culminating in his presidential year. Hernandez was a forward-thinking president, encouraging the organization to move under the umbrella of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) along with most of the other areas in college athletics.
CoSIDA recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 and a 25-Year Award in 2014.
Hernandez received two degrees from Ball State – his bachelor’s in 1984 and a master’s degree in 1991.
Gina Lehe – NCAA (Managing Director of Communications - Strategy and Branding)
Award-winning communications and branding professional.
With 22 years of outstanding service in athletic communications at the association levels,
Gina Lehe currently serves at the NCAA national office after working at three college football bowls – the Insight Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Rose Bowl – and then at the College Football Playoffs.
Lehe has been at the NCAA since September 2019 in her role as Managing Director of Communications-Strategy and Branding, overseeing branded content, communications planning, research, live events and targeted marketing communication efforts.
Prior to her work at the NCAA, Lehe was the Senior Director of External Relations and Brandings for the College Football Playoff (2014-2019), coming to the CFP after a seven-year stint as Director of Media at the Rose Bowl (2007-2014). She also was the Director of Public Relations at the Tositos Fiesta Bowl (2000-07) before starting her bowl association work as Public Relations Manager at the Insight Bowl in 1998.
Lehe has received numerous accolades, including being named a
Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal Game Changer in 2017 and as a 2009 “40 Under 40” award recipient by
Pasadena Magazine. Her work in hosting and promoting bowl games was recognized as the top collegiate sports event five times by
Street and Smith and Sports Travel Awards.
She began her career as a student assistant in sports information at Arizona as men's basketball team statistician. She graduated from UA in December of 1999 with a bachelors degree in communications.
Lenny Reich – University of Mount Union (Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director)
CoSIDA Executive Board member and leader in NCAA Division III communications.
One of the leaders among all NCAA Division III members,
Lenny Reich is an award-winning SID with extensive national and regional committee service to collegiate athletics.
Currently, Reich is an at-large representative on the CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors, representing Mount Union. He is just the second College Division individual in CoSIDA history to serve as an at-large representative. Reich is past president of the Division III Sports Information Directors Association (D3SIDA) and a past member of CoSIDA’s Academic All-America Committee.
Reich is in his 25th year of service to the profession, serving at Mount Union since 2008. He added the Assistant AD title in 2012.
At the national level, Reich is a past member of the NCAA Sportsmanship and Game Environment working group, working in conjunction with the Disney Institute to help design the "GameDay the DIII Way" program. He is past chair of the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Central Region Committee and past chair of the Ohio Athletic Conference SID task force.
Among his honors, Reich received the 2019 Warren Berg Award from CoSIDA, the organization’s highest college division award which recognizes outstanding commitment and service to athletic communications. In addition to his Hall of Fame recognition at the June CoSIDA Convention, Reich also will receive a 25-Year Award.
Prior to his Mount Union service, Reich was Sports Information Director at Capital University (2000-2008) and SID at Edinboro, Centenary (N.J.), Defiance and Marion. He is a 1997 graduate of Georgia Southern with a degree in sports management.
Steve Roe – University of Iowa (Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications)
Award-winning communications leader in the Big Ten Conference with extensive volunteer experience.
Steve Roe joined the Iowa staff as an assistant SID in September of 1990 and assumed the department’s top position in 2011 after roles as assistant and associate sports information director.
He is only the fourth director of athletics communications/sports information in the history of Iowa Athletics, following Eric Wilson (served 1923-68), George Wine (1968-93) and Phil Haddy (1993-2010).
In 2008, Roe earned a CoSIDA 25-Year Award. He has served as the editor of Iowa's football media guides since 1991 and men's basketball media guides for 18 years (1991-2009) and during that time, earned numerous publication awards from CoSIDA.
He is the third representative from Iowa to be inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, following Wilson and Wine.
Roe volunteered at the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final Four for nearly 10 years, and has volunteered at over 100 Big Ten/NCAA championship events for nearly four decades.
On campus, Roe is Chair of the Iowa Varsity Club’s Hall of Fame Voting Committee.
Prior to Iowa, Roe worked at Drake University as SID (1985-88) and at Northwestern State (La.) as head SID (1980-85).
Bob Smith – Formerly of Rutgers University (Sports Information Director)
Past CoSIDA President
SID trailblazer as first Black President of CoSIDA. (Deceased)
Bob Smith, who passed away in 2017, served as Rutgers University’s Sports Information Director from 1969-1994.
He was the first African-American to be named President of CoSIDA when he held the position in 1987-88. He served on CoSIDA Board of Directors for seven years (1984-85 through 1990-91, serving in the past president role for three years.)
Prior to his service at Rutgers, Smith was the Athletic Director at Maryland-Eastern Shore from 1965-68. He began his career in college athletics at NCAA Division II Lincoln University, his alma mater, where he was head men’s basketball coach, track and field coach and assistant football coach from 1956-65.
Smith was inducted into the Lincoln Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 for both his coaching and athletic accomplishments. He earned 12 letters in football, basketball and baseball from 1948-53. Smith was All-Conference in each sport and earned the Legend Award.
After graduating from Lincoln University in 1953, Smith earned a master of arts in American Literature from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962.