Ryan Ivey
Louisiana Tech University President Dr. Jim Henderson introduced Ryan Ivey as Vice President and Director of Athletics in front of a packed Club Level at the Davison Athletics Complex.
Ivey comes to Ruston with more than 18+ years of experience in intercollegiate athletics with the past 11 as an athletics director at Stephen F. Austin, Austin Peay, and Texas A&M-Commerce.
“The Louisiana Tech athletics brand is synonymous with excellence. When you think about the student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and teams that have called this University home, it is really astounding. We have an opportunity to build upon, grow and establish future success,” Ivey said. “Our goal will be to build a nationally prominent athletics department with individuals that excel in everything that we do. We will be relentless in our pursuit of excellence, respecting those that have come before us, but building and charting our own path and successes. Now is the time to be part of this amazing University and department!”
He spent more than five years in Nacogdoches, Texas at SFA, leading the department through a conference transition from the Southland Conference to the Western Athletic Conference, raising private support that included the launch of the Purple Lights Fund that helped secure the four largest single gifts in the department’s history, and increasing ticket sales by 189 percent.
He also helped complete more than $30 million in facility improvements including the Loddie Naymola Basketball Performance Center, a 42,000-square foot building that houses offices, locker rooms, weight room, training room, and practice courts for the SFA basketball programs. Other construction improvements included a baseball indoor pitching facility, beach volleyball competition facility, indoor golf practice facility, soccer locker room renovations, and more.
Under his leadership, the Lumberjacks celebrated 18 conference championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances, and the 2019 Bowling National Championship won by the Ladyjacks after going a perfect 4-0, defeating top-ranked Vanderbilt in the title match.
Prior to joining SFA, Ivey spent three years (2015-18) at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee, overseeing the department of athletics and its 16 sponsored sports.
While at the helm of the Governors, he helped raise $6.5 million in gifts which were funneled into facility improvements and the athletic departments budget on top of increase football and basketball ticket revenue a combined 39 percent.
While at Austin Peay, the Governors posted several accomplishments on the court/field including two postseason appearances by men’s basketball in 2016 and 2018, an eight-win season by football in 2017 that tied the program record for single-season victories reached some 40 years prior in 1977, and a volleyball program that claimed both the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles.
His first Director of Athletics position came at NCAA Division II Texas A&M-Commerce. During his two-year stint with the Lions, the athletic programs experienced new heights by winning six team Lone Star Conference championships in the 2014-15 season, the most ever in Lion Athletics history.
In particular, the football program secured back-to-back winning seasons and postseason appearances for the first time since 1990, seeing a 160 percent increase in attendance and a record number of season tickets sold.
Along the way, he helped drive in more than $2.8 million in facility enhancements, including a $1.4 million softball field that saw a first-year program in 2015 finish with a winning record and gain a spot in the Lone Star Conference tournament. He also created the Lions Athletic Club, the fundraising arm of Texas A&M-Commerce Athletics.
Ivey’s first work experience in the state of Louisiana came at McNeese where he assumed the role of assistant athletic director for internal affairs with his efforts primarily focused on growing corporate sponsorship revenue for the Cowboys and Cowgirls.
He spent six years in Lake Charles, the last three of which were as associate director of athletics where he continued his work in revenue generation while overseeing operations for all 16 of the institution’s athletic programs.
Under his guidance, corporate sponsorship yield over $750,000 before accepting his first athletic director position at Texas A&M-Commerce.
Prior to breaking into athletic administration, Ivey served as the director of basketball operations for the Memphis women’s basketball team from 2005-07, which followed a short stint as an athletics marketing coordinator at the University of South Dakota.
Following his graduation from Memphis in 2004, Ivey secured a position with the Memphis Redbirds – the triple-A affiliate of the MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals – as a stadium operations assistant.
A student-athlete at Memphis, Ivey suited up for the Tigers’ football team for four years as the squad’s punter and holder. Most notable, Ivey held or Lou Groza finalist and eventual three-time Super Bowl champion Stephen Gostkowski.
Ivey earned both his bachelor’s (sports management, 2004) and master’s (sports and leisure commerce, 2010) from the University of Memphis.
Ivey is married to the former Kelley Holt from Fayetteville, Tennessee. The couple has two sons – Jett and Ace.
