General 1/15/2020 8:06:00 AM Chris Brannick

Darnell Smith Named Inaugural Athletic Director At Texas A&M San Antonio

UCO Assistant AD Will Build New Department In Hometown

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Texas A&M San Antonio announced Wednesday the appointment of Darnell Smith as its inaugural director of intercollegiate athletics and recreational sports, with the now former University of Central Oklahoma assistant athletic director charged with building a new athletics department from the ground up.

Smith, a native of San Antonio, spent the past 10 years at Central working as the assistant athletic director of compliance, overseeing all aspects of the crucial facet of the department. Smith also held positions in charge of student-athlete development, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Deputy Title IX coordinator, as well as most recently, the alignment and allocation effort set forth by President Neuhold-Ravikumar.

"We are happy for Darnell and his family," UCO athletic director Eddie Griffin said. "This has been a goal of Darnell's for many years and he's reached that goal. We know he's going to do great things and we're looking forward to keeping up with what he's able to accomplish in San Antonio. It's a great opportunity and we're just really happy for him."

Smith will start athletics at Texas A&M San Antonio, a 10-year old institution that will participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The "Jaguars" hope to field teams for the 2020-21 academic year. TAMUSA currently enrolls nearly 6,500 students, which is up over 300 percent since it became a stand-alone institution in 2009.

Smith came to UCO that year, and has since been heavily involved in projects, committees, forums, and the like both inside the university as well as on the national stage.

He is a member of the National Association of Athletics Compliance (NAAC), National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA). In addition, he was selected as a member of the prestigious NCAA Leadership Institute (2015), and the NCAA Division II ADA Mentoring program.

Smith currently serves on the Division II Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Grant Committee which seeks to provide funding for entry-level administrative positions at NCAA Division II schools and conference offices to encourage access, recruitment, selection and the long-term success of ethnic minorities and women.

Prior to UCO, Smith served as Director of Compliance from February 2009 to June 2010 at the University of New Mexico. In his role with UNM he managed 11 sports by maintaining institutional control in all aspects of compliance. Prior to UNM, Smith served as a Management Development Trainee from June 2008 to February 2009 with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. While there, Smith assisted the Paralympics Committee with community and outreach programs pertaining to Paralympics Military Program, aided the USOC with athlete services and facilities maintenance. In addition, he helped coordinate local transportation for Paralympic athletes and coaches during Paralympics processing for the 2008 Beijing games.

Following his high school graduation in San Antonio, Smith was a four-year member (two-year starter) of the Oklahoma State football team from 2002-06 at defensive end. A standout student-athlete, he was a three-time recipient of the Arthur Ashe Scholar award at OSU, earned second-team honors on the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Team, was selected as an ARA Sportsmanship Award finalists, and Big XII Community of Champions Award winner among other accolades.

While at Oklahoma State University, Darnell was named OSU's Senior of Significance and Outstanding Senior. In addition, he earned a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Economics and a Master's of Science in Natural & Applied Sciences from there and served as a Graduate Assistant for the Office of Athletic compliance (2007-08).

Print Friendly Version