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Mike Montoro – West Virginia University, Assistant Athletics Director/Football Communications
CSC Lester Jordan Award
by Jim Seavey – former Academic All-America Committee Member
Being involved is a credo that Mike Montoro has embodied throughout a long and distinguished career in the athletic communications profession.
And for the past 28 years, his involvement as a member of the CSC Academic All-America Committee has helped provide well-deserved recognition for countless student-athletes at all levels of play. Montoro’s commitment to help others and to give back in any way possible has made an indelible impact at several institutions, most notably West Virginia University, where he has spent the last 16 years directing the football communications efforts, including the last several as the Mountaineers’ assistant athletic director.
Mike’s work has not gone unnoticed by his peers, and his involvement and impact are being honored as he receives the 2023 CSC Lester Jordan Award that is presented to an individual for exemplary service to the Academic All-America Program and the promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete.
College Sports Communicators former president Eric McDowell presents Mike Montoro with his 25-year Award at the 2015 CoSIDA convention.
Montoro’s first immersion into the world of sports information came in the late 1980’s as he completed his undergraduate studies at Liberty University before moving on to graduate school at West Virginia. While attending his first CSC convention in Washington, D.C. in 1989, Mike had the great fortune of being influenced by three of the best in the business: Shelly Poe, Kevin Keys and Michael Fragale, to do one thing-- get involved.
“Shelly, Kevin and Michael took me under their wing and introduced me to the whole convention process and let me look and learn in their world for a few days. A main area of emphasis was the importance of getting involved within the profession, and there was no better way to do that than getting on a committee,” Montoro said. “When I became the sports Information director at Liberty, I took that to heart, and the experience has been incredible.”
Montoro describes the Academic All-America Committee as one that is “most prestigious and hard working. What better way for me to get involved than with that group—I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
When he joined the AAA Committee in 1995, things were done a lot differently than they are now. There wasn’t email or computerized voting—everything was done by hand. Ballots were mailed or faxed (if you don’t know, Google it) to district coordinators who often pulled all-nighters just to get them out to the membership on time.
“(Former Vice Chair) Brian McCann taught me the importance of not getting in a hurry in order to get things done early,” Montoro reflected on his start with the committee. “Everything was in place for a reason and had a certain process - including using the deadlines. The process may have been different, but the results of honoring student-athletes were just as meaningful then as they are now.”
Montoro’s involvement with the Academic All-America program has given him a great appreciation of what the award means to his student-athletes.
“I’ll ask them – ‘Do you understand the importance of earning a spot on this prestigious team?’ I will explain to them what the award means, why this is the top academic award a student-athlete can earn and why they are deserving of it,” Montoro noted. “They are doing so much more than just playing a sport—their excellence spans from the classroom to the community to the field, and their achievements are remarkable with the schedules they keep. It brings a big smile to their faces.”
Like many institutions, West Virginia has an Academic All-America display in its Football Center, and Montoro says that as student-athletes view that display, it makes them strive to achieve the honor as well.
“We’ve had amazing coaches, administrators and mentors as part of our athletic department who understand the importance of the student-athlete and the role that the Academic All-America program plays in college athletics,” Montoro said.
The Academic All-America program is far from the only volunteer venture Montoro is dedicated to. He also serves on the CSC Mentorship Program Committee, and for the past 21 years, he has served on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Executive Board and is a member of the Dick Howser Trophy Committee. Mike was the recipient of the NCBWA’s prestigious Wilbur Snypp Award in 2006 to honor his outstanding contributions to college baseball.
Montoro couldn’t be prouder of the work that the AAA committee does year in and year out: “It teaches the value of publicizing the student-athletes, helping them continue to build their brand, and they, in turn, appreciate the hard work that we do to provide those opportunities.”
And if he had to do it all over again, Montoro didn’t hesitate.
“I wouldn’t do it any other way. I love it.”
Spoken like someone who truly loves being involved.
Gallery: (5-11-2023) Mike Montoro, Lester Jordan Award