College Sports Information Directors of America

Tony Neely – University of Kentucky Assistant AD for Athletics Communications and Public Relations

CSC Hall of Fame Class of 2025 and Arch Ward Award recipient

by Susan Lax, University of Kentucky Director of Athletics Communications and Public Relations (Football) / CSC Special Awards Committee member
 

"Tony has been unbelievably selfless in advancing the accomplishments of others in a career spanning decades. He has spent thousands of hours promoting other peoples’ awards and accolades, so these CSC recognitions for him are pretty cool. Congratulations to Tony and his wife, Terri. The Neely’s have devoted so much time and effort in service to others. We couldn’t be more thankful for them."
- Mitch Barnhart, University of Kentucky athletics director

"Tony is meticulous in his dedication to getting things right. If he shares a statistic or an anecdote with me, I know he has been rigorous in making certain that information is accurate…The defining aspect of Tony's career has been his appreciation and care for the student-athletes whose exploits he publicizes. I have literally never heard Tony Neely one time utter a negative comment about a college athlete. Were I a college sports parent, that is the kind of communicator I would want publicizing my child."
- Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader sports columnist

"Tony is an esteemed communications professional who is respected by the media, coaches, administrators and colleagues alike for his consistent performance and professional demeanor."
- Herb Vincent, Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner, CSC Hall of Famer (2021) and former CSC president

Tony Neely won’t like reading this feature piece. He won’t want all the fuss or focus to be about him. He will reluctantly allow those of us who work with him to boast about his accomplishments and awards. 

He would instead prefer to be in the background and work on promoting others. Typical sports-information-director style, am I right? That’s who he is and why we all love him. But, too bad, Tony. This is your time to shine. It’s Tony Neely time! 

Neely, whose career in college athletics spans 47 years, including more than three decades with the Kentucky Wildcats, has been named to the 2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Hall of Fame and is the winner of the prestigious Arch Ward Award. He will be honored in June at the CSC annual convention in Orlando with both of these prestigious honors.
 

I’ve called Tony Neely the “Great Nominator” over the years, watching him nominate countless student-athletes, university staffers, and even the media for national awards, all-conference teams, etc. I don’t have concrete statistics on how many of his nominations ended up winning, but I would bet the farm he’s batting a thousand. He’s that good. 

Just reading the description of the CSC Arch Ward Award automatically brings Tony Neely’s name to the forefront… “presented annually to a current CSC member who has made outstanding contributions to the field of college sports information, and who, by his or her activities, has brought dignity and prestige to the profession.” 

That’s Tony Neely to a “T.” He’s special, and not just for his work as the Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Communications and Public Relations at Kentucky. He’s special because he walks the walk and talks the talk. Tony walks in his faith daily and is one of the kindest and most humble people in sports. 

Yes, it’s most certainly his time to shine.

“Tony has been unbelievably selfless in advancing the accomplishments of others in a career spanning decades,” noted UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart. “He has spent thousands of hours promoting other peoples’ awards and accolades, so these CSC recognitions for him are pretty cool.  Congratulations to Tony and his wife Terri. The Neely’s have devoted so much time and effort in service to others. We couldn’t be more thankful for them.”

For 31 years, Neely has given distinguished service to UK.
 

His athletic communications career began in 1978 as an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, and Neely spent 16 years in communications at his alma mater from 1978-94. He started as a student assistant at Vanderbilt in 1978 and was hired full time as an assistant sports information director before finishing his final semester as a student. Promoted to associate SID in 1990, he then was elevated to sports information director two years later. In 1994, he accepted the SID position at Kentucky.

UK’s communications/public relations staff has been named one of the best in the country by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) three times under Neely’s direction, earning a "Super 11" honor - designed to identify and reward the sports communications departments and programs that exemplify excellent media relations.

“From having dealt with Tony now for more than three decades in a professional capacity, there are three things I most admire about him,” Lexington Herald-Leader sports columnist Mark Story said. “First, Tony is meticulous in his dedication to getting things right. If he shares a statistic or an anecdote with me, I know he has been rigorous in making certain that information is accurate.

“Second, as someone who may have occasionally written things with which Tony did not agree, I have always admired and appreciated the fact that he does not hold grudges. He will tell you what he thinks (politely, in almost all instances) but then he moves on.

“Finally, the defining aspect of Tony's career has been his appreciation and care for the student-athletes whose exploits he publicizes. I have literally never heard Tony Neely one time utter a negative comment about a college athlete. Were I a college sports parent, that is the kind of communicator I would want publicizing my child.”

In addition to his outstanding work on campus, Neely has given back to his national organization throughout his career.

He has served eight years on the CSC Professional Development and Continuing Education Committee, where the veteran committee leader was one of CSC's key moderators and presenters for convention sessions and webinars. Throughout his years of membership in the organization, he also served on CSC committees for Academic All-American Hall of Fame, former NCAA Legislative Liaison committee, Postgraduate Scholarship (now Scholarship and Grants Committee), and Publications Award Publicity (now the Creative and Digital Design Contest).

In 2018, Neely earned his 25-Year Award from CSC, and has won numerous publications and writing awards in the CSC Fred S. Stabley Sr. Writing Contest during his tenure. He also co-wrote the official University of Kentucky book commemorating the UK 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament championship.

“Tony is an esteemed communications professional who is respected by the media, coaches, administrators and colleagues alike for his consistent performance and professional demeanor,” notes Herb Vincent, Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner and former CSC president. “Nearing a half-century in the communications profession, he has made a positive impact on both Vanderbilt University and the University of Kentucky.”

The Nashville native graduated from Vanderbilt in 1982 with a degree in business administration and a minor in history. He has been married to his wife, Terri, for 35 years and they have one daughter, Grace, a son-in-law Wes Johnson and one grandson, Will.

Ok, Tony. We are done. You don’t have to suffer reading through any more articles about you. But for those of us who love you, it’s always TONY NEELY TIME!

We join thousands of others who you have impacted in your career to congratulate you on earning the 2025 Arch Ward Award and your well-deserved induction into the CSC Hall of Fame.