Damon Evans, senior associate athletic director for internal affairs at UGA and a former compliance official with the Southeastern Conference, has been named UGA director of athletics effective July 1. The appointment is subject to approval of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
Evans, who has been a top associate to retiring director of athletics Vince Dooley since 2000, will work with Adams and Dooley during a six-month period of transition.
“Damon Evans’s record at the university and with the SEC is exemplary and we already value him as a colleague and trusted adviser,” says President Michael F. Adams. “His solid record of financial planning and management, academic emphasis for student-athletes, fund raising and collegial participation in the total life of the university matches well with the University of Georgia’s vision for a strong athletics program within the institutional academic priorities, and we very much look forward to having him take the helm of the UGA athletics team.”
As senior associate athletics director since 2000 and associate athletics director from 1998 to 2000, Evans has been second in charge of the Georgia athletics program, which fields 21 intercollegiate sports teams involving more than 500 student-athletes, a $45 million budget and 206 staff.
He previously was assistant commissioner for compliance with the Southeastern Conference (1997-98), SEC director of compliance (1995-97), director of compliance and operations for the University of Missouri (1994-95) and compliance and academic affairs assistant with the SEC (1993-94).
Evans earned two degrees from the University of Georgia, receiving a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1992 and a master’s of education in sports management in 1994. He is a Georgia football letterman, having played from 1988 to 1992.
A native of Omaha, Neb., Evans grew up in Gainesville where he became a three-sport star at Gainesville High School, earning first-team all-state honors as a football wide receiver, most valuable player on the basketball team and setting a school record in track for the 220-yard dash.
“If I were coming from any position in America to accept this post, I would still say the same thing-that the University of Georgia is one of the premier athletics programs in the nation,” says Evans. “There’s no place I would rather be than right here with the extraordinary opportunity to help move this program to even greater heights.”
His was one of three unranked names recommended for Adams’s consideration by a search committee chaired by Jere Morehead, director of the Honors Program and faculty athletics representative. Adams interviewed the three after the committee’s final meetings with those and other candidates.
“I commend Dr. Morehead and the committee for the exceptional fashion in which they conducted this search,” Adams says. “The services of Dan Parker and the search firm of Baker-Parker were invaluable, as well. Likewise, I am grateful to Coach Dooley for the role he played in consulting with me as we sought his successor. I know Coach Dooley will continue to be of assistance through the transition, and we look forward to his continued involvement as a member of the UGA team.”
Evans is responsible for an athletic association budget that has grown by 60 percent during his tenure, from $28 million to $45 million. He is overseeing a $60 million capital campaign, the largest in athletic association history.
