College Sports Information Directors of America

Related Content
• 2023 Special Awards Announcements and Features
• #CSCUnite23 Convention Home
• CSC Hall of Fame

---

Oliver Pierce – Gonzaga University, Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information Director (retired)

CSC Hall of Fame Class of 2023

by Tom Galbraith – Randolph College, Director of Athletics // CSC Special Awards Committee member

An industry staple of consistency and professionalism in the Pacific Northwest for over three decades, Oliver Pierce completed his Hall of Fame sports communications career without ever needing to take a job more than 100 miles from his hometown of Spokane, Washington. In the meantime, he helped build one of the most recognized brands in all of college basketball.

From 1989 until his retirement in 2014, Pierce served as the publicity machine behind the evolution of the Gonzaga University athletics department and specifically its men’s basketball program, while simultaneously managing the storylines and successes of the Bulldogs’ 15 other sports.

The Zags men’s basketball team won or shared 16 West Coast Conference titles and recorded 19 wins in 17 NCAA appearances, reaching the Sweet 16 five times and the Elite 8 once during Pierce’s tenure. The Gonzaga women’s basketball team won 10 league titles and made seven NCAA appearances in the same span, reaching the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite 8 once. Gonzaga men’s soccer and women’s golf competed in the NCAA tournament twice and the Bulldogs baseball, volleyball and women’s rowing reached the NCAA post-season championships once each.
 

While Pierce is best known for his work with the Zags, he cut his teeth as a student in the industry he loved so much at his alma mater, Washington State University, under then-SID Mike Wilson. Pierce began his career innocently enough as the press box public address for Cougar football games and tracking player minutes played for Wazzu basketball games.

The experience as a student at WSU led to his first job as sports writer for the Tri-City Herald in Pasco, Wash. before he returned to Pullman from 1977-85 as the assistant SID under the mentorship and lifetime friendship of fellow CSC Hall of Famer Rod Commons.

For a brief time in Pullman he even accomplished something many SIDs aspire to do: Pierce was part-owner of a tavern, The Sports Page Bar and Grill.

While at WSU, he assisted with the 1982 and 1984 NCAA first and second round men’s basketball tournaments hosted by the Cougars and was the SID for the Pac-10 North All-Star baseball team that participated in the Honkball (Baseball) Tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands in the summer of 1984.

While at Gonzaga, Pierce toured the Soviet Union’s Georgia Republic with the Bulldog baseball team on a 10-day goodwill trip in 1989, served as media relations director for the Pacific-10 Conference North Baseball Tournament from 1989-91, directed media relations efforts for the 1992 USA Women’s Olympic Basketball team during its one-week training session held at Gonzaga.

Pierce also directed the media campaign that led to Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison sharing the 2006 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s (USBWA) Oscar Robertson Trophy as national player of the year.

His outside-of-Gonzaga work included serving as editor of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) monthly newsletter (1991-94).

For the better part of his career, Pierce served as an active member and leader for both the USBWA and the NCBWA. In 2011, he was awarded the USBWA’s Katha Quinn Award for outstanding service to the media and to the game of college men’s basketball.

A recipient in 2015 of the then-College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Lifetime Achievement Award, Pierce attended his first national workshop in Houston in 1989. It was the first of many. Pierce recalls simply walking the hallways of the convention hall in awe of the sports information legends he met and with whom he developed professional relationships and lifelong friendships. There are literally too many to list, but he is grateful for every one of those connections.

The outstanding service he provided to win the Quinn Award is indicative of the way he approached the sports communications profession for the entirety of his 33-year Hall of Fame career, always building relationships. Whether mentoring a young, small school first-time SID who happened to reside in the same city – yours truly! – or giving dozens of young professionals opportunities to work in the industry, the personable approach to the job is what truly made Pierce worthy of the legendary status he mentioned noticing of others at his first convention.

"This honor isn't about me," Pierce said. "It's a reflection of the sportswriters, broadcasters, administrators, my staff, student-athletes and fellow SID's I had the opportunity to serve throughout my career. It's all about the people and I was fortunate to be surrounded by so many who will have my lifelong respect and friendship."
 
And this June, deservedly so, he joins those legends he admired back in 1989 as a permanent legend himself in the world of sports communications when he is inducted as a CSC Hall of Famer, Class of 2023.