UNI Athletics Hires Communications, Development Staff
8/7/2018 3:44:00 PM | General
Share:
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – University of Northern Iowa athletics announced the hires of Jerek Wolcott as assistant athletic director of communications and Nathaniel Smith as the assistant director of development.
Jerek Wolcott
Wolcott will oversee all athletic communication efforts, including media relations, stat keeping, content creation and management of UNIPanthers.com.
"I am excited to welcome Jerek and his family to the UNI athletic family. He brings a variety of skills and experiences that will be beneficial to our 15 programs and over 400 student-athletes," said Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs Nathan Christensen. "Jerek will play a pivotal role in the growth of UNI Athletics and will be an excellent addition to the culture."
Wolcott comes to Northern Iowa from Carroll College in Helena, Montana, where he worked as the sports information director. He managed the communication efforts for all 15 sports for the NAIA school.
He was twice named the Frontier Conference Sports Information Director of the Year, including the 2017-18 academic year. He earned awards for his work from the NAIA and CoSIDA. During his time at Carroll, he also helped publicize NAIA Division I Basketball National Player of the Year Ryan Imhoff and two-time CoSIDA College Division Academic All-America of the Year Leah Esposito.
Wolcott was also the driving force behind the launch of CarrollAthletics.com, which was named the best website in the NAIA for the 2014-15 academic year.
Prior to his time at Carroll, he was the assistant director of athletic media relations at Idaho State University where he managed five sports for the Bengals including women's basketball, women's soccer, men's and women's tennis and softball.
He began his career at the University of Montana where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and worked in the sports information office. He worked as the second contact for football and men's basketball and as the primary contact for men's tennis.
"We are very excited to join the Panther family," Wolcott said. "I know UNI's reputation for excellence across the board, but the thing that appealed to me when I visited Cedar Falls is the culture. The passion for success and supporting student-athletes starts at the top with David Harris and permeates throughout the entire athletic department. My family is excited to ingrain ourselves in the community and do everything we can to support the tremendous student-athletes at UNI."
Wolcott and his wife, Ashley, have two boys, Calvin (4) and Holland (1).
Smith's responsibilities will be to work with and cultivate Panther Scholarship Club donors while also innovating fundraising ideas and opportunities.
Nathaniel Smith
"We're excited to welcome Nathaniel to the UNI athletics department and the PSC team," Christensen said. "His experience in intercollegiate athletics and development will have an immediate impact on how we grow our base of support and engagement around our athletics programs. I am excited for PSC members to get to know him and to help us achieve our PSC goals."
He comes to UNI from Lincoln Christian University in Lincoln, Illinois, where he served as director of athletics. During his two years at Lincoln Christian, he saw annual-giving increase by 300 percent and donors increase by 350 percent and secured the first-ever major gift in department history. He also saw corporate sponsorship dollars increase by 500 percent.
In competition, the Red Lions made the first-ever NAIA postseason appearance in school history in volleyball.
Prior to Smith's time at Lincoln Christian, he served as the operations and events coordinator at Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he led presentation and logistics for all home athletic events. He also helped coordinate the advancement of corporate sponsorship initiatives and signage opportunities.
He served as an intern at Fresno State University and worked as a student assistant during his undergraduate work at Loras College in Dubuque, where he was a four-year starter and three-year captain on the men's basketball team.
He earned a bachelor's degree in sports management from Loras in 2015 and a master's in athletic administration from Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2016.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to join UNI's athletic department," Smith said. "The family culture created here, coupled with the success of the athletic programs both academically and athletically is rare and something I immediately wanted to be a part of. It will be a privilege serving the student-athletes, my fellow colleagues, and the prestigious alumni and supporters of UNI. I cannot wait to get started."
