College Sports Information Directors of America

25-Year Award
Presented to College Sports Communicators members who have completed 25 years in the athletics communications profession. Vetted and voted on by the Special Awards Committee. 

Don Weast — Emporia State University Associate Athletic Director, Media Relations 
 

“Being successful in collegiate athletics comes down to being adaptable.  Whether it is new coaches, new student-athletes, new technology or new colleagues at other schools, change is going to happen, and success comes to those who are able to adapt to it. That being said, I've been blessed to spend my entire professional career at my alma mater and working in a conference with incredible people.” — Don Weast, 2026 CSC 25-Year Award recipient

Don Weast is in his 25th year in charge of athletic media relations at Emporia State and his 26th year as a full-time employee for the Hornets. Promoted to the title of Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations in 2003 and Associate Athletic Director in 2017, Weast oversees media relations, game day press row operations, publications, website management and social media for the 15-sport intercollegiate athletic program at ESU.

His office has won three Best in Nation awards from CSC for publication excellence. Weast has promoted 63 Hornets to 114 All-American honors across seven different programs with six National Players of the Year in three different sports.  Hornet student-athletes have earned Academic All-American honors 43 times under his tenure, including two Academic All-Americans of the Year. 

In his role at Emporia State, Weast has handled the media relations duties for three NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, four NCAA Division II softball regionals, three baseball regionals, two women's tennis regionals, two women's soccer regionals and one volleyball regional. Previous to taking over the lead position, he also assisted with three women's basketball regionals, one baseball regional, one softball regional and two outdoor track & field championships at Emporia State and the 1996 NCAA Division II Softball World Series. He served as the pre and post-game press conference moderator at the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Division II Football Championship games at then Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City. 

He developed Emporia State Athletics’ social media presence and has grown it to one of the largest followings in the MIAA. The Hornets are the only program in the conference with at least 17,000 Twitter followers, 11,000 Facebook likes, 5,000 Instagram followers and 900 YouTube subscribers. Weast also worked on the testing group for Genius Sports' NCAA Live Stats football software development.

He began his association with the Hornets as a student athletic trainer in 1986. Weast spent part of the 1989-90 season with the now-defunct Topeka Sizzlers of the CBA as an athletic trainer. He spent two seasons as a Rule 10 assistant football coach at Osage City Junior High in 1992-93. A 1998 graduate of ESU, Weast was a sports supervisor at the Emporia Recreation Commission prior to returning to ESU as a student in the sports information office in 1997. After a year of graduate work at Central Missouri, he returned to ESU in 1999 as the director of sports promotions.
 

Colin McDonough, Northwest Missouri State University, Assistant Athletic Director, Media Relations and Communications: “Don is a consummate professional in our business. He lives and breathes Emporia State Hornet sports, and it shows in his work. He is a terrific sounding board for ideas and thoughts as a collegiate sports communicator. Don has progressed with the times and was one of the early leaders in moving our league to NCAA Live Stats.  He also has a passion for the MIAA. It shows through his efforts as a volunteer at the MIAA Basketball Championships, where he can be found keeping in-game stats and working post-game press conferences for the neutral site event held at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. It's always a pleasure to work a game or a media day with Don. I'm honored to call him a colleague and a friend. He's one of the all-time bests in our field.”

Gene Cassell, Washburn University, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications: “I've known Don for about as long as anyone I've known in the business, and I also consider him one of my closest friends in the business. Even though we're at rival schools, he's willing to listen to a vent session or just a "hey, how's it going phone call. He loves his alma mater, the MIAA and NCAA Division II, and has always made himself available to help when and where he's needed at other events such as conference, regional and national championship events. I know he's only a phone call away if something comes up, and he would do whatever he could to help out, and that's what makes him one of the leaders in our profession.”

J.D. Campbell, Emporia State University, former Director of Public Affairs/SID; Indiana University, Sr. Assistant Athletic Director, Basketball Communications (retired): “Don's loyalty to Emporia State is second to none.  His input from the time I met him was invaluable.  We had memorable times driving all through Kansas and Missouri. I'm honored to be his friend, and a highlight every year is the opportunity to be with him at our convention. He is a wonderful father and a great ambassador for ESU and the MIAA. Congratulations and Go Hornets.”

Dan Wilkes, Pittsburg State University, Associate Athletic Director, Communications: “Everyone in our profession gives so much of their time and talent to showcase our schools, student-athletes and coaches, but Don has done so at an elite level over a quarter century's body of work. All the diverse components of what we do for a living come so easily to him, whereas many of us have to work hard to keep up with it all. His victories haven't been measured in wins and losses but in the lasting personal relationships he's built with his peers, with his coaches & student-athletes, and with all the external constituencies, too. Congratulations, my friend.”