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L E A D E R S H I P
DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
MITCH BARNHART
Mitch Barnhart is in his seventh
year as Director of Athletics
for the University of Kentucky, having
set a clear course for making
Kentucky one of the top athletics
programs in the country.
Hired July 15, 2002, Barnhart
has made the desire for overall excellence
the cornerstone of Wildcat
Athletics. His decision to fully fund
all 22 varsity sports has produced a
wave of firsts in a number of programs, while also allowing UK
to achieve at a consistently high level.
Numerous sports have reached never-before-seen levels of success.
Baseball won the school’s first-ever Southeastern Conference
title in 2006, following in the SEC championship footsteps of
women’s tennis, men’s golf and men’s basketball from 2005. Four
Wildcat coaches earned SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2005-06.
The women’s soccer and rifle teams added league titles in
2006-07, with conference Coach of the Year honors going to
Warren Lipka and Harry Mullins, respectively.
Mitch Barnhart has made
the desire for overall
excellence the cornerstone
of Wildcat Athletics.
Perhaps the biggest on-field turnaround besides baseball has
been in football, where Rich Brooks has led the Wildcats to backto-back
bowl wins (2006 and 2007) for the first time in more than
50 years. Barnhart’s support of Brooks and his staff has manifested
itself in a string of wins over traditional football powers, including a
victory over top-ranked LSU in October 2007.
Financially, Barnhart instructed his staff to seek out new revenue
streams, and that resulted in a record $80 million multimedia
rights agreement with Host Communications (now IMG
College). The additional resources allow UK to continue its
commitment to its student-athletes, a commitment Barnhart
takes personally. Athletics spends $1.5 million annually on its
nationally-renowned CATS Academic Center and each spring
hosts the CATSPYs, an awards program designed to recognize
the very best in UK Athletics.
Other initiatives begun under Barnhart’s leadership include
the Big Blue Caravan, which connects UK to its vast fan base,
the UK Athletics Hall of Fame, which honors past greats across
all sports, a revamping of UK’s donor program that has resulted
in record K Fund dollars, and a 10-year, $10-million commitment
to help fund the University’s general scholarship program.
UK also completed the Joe Craft Center, a $30 million expansion
of Memorial Coliseum that includes new practice and
office space for a variety of sports.
Barnhart’s connection to UK’s student-athlete is evident by his
personal interaction and commitment to provide all support services
necessary to meet the needs of these students.
Barnhart arrived at Kentucky from Oregon State, where he
served four successful years (1998-2002) as athletics director. Before
his tenure at OSU, he worked at Tennessee for 12 years (1986-98);
served as assistant executive director of the SMU Mustang Club
(1983-86); regional director for the Duck Athletic Fund at Oregon
(1983); and was an intern for the Aztec Athletic Foundation at San
Diego State (1982-1983). Barnhart, 49, is a native of Kansas City,
Kan. He received his bachelor degree from Ottawa University
(Kansas) in 1981 and a masters in sports administration from Ohio
University in 1982. He and his wife, the former Connie Brown,
have three children, Kirby, Blaire and Scott.
THE BARNHART FILE
Personal
Birth date: Aug. 27, 1959
Birthplace: Kansas City, Kan.
Family: Wife, Connie, daughters Kirby (21) and Blaire (17),
and son Scott (15)
Education
Ottawa (Kan.) University (B.A. 1981)
Ohio Universiy (M.S. 1982)
Career
Kentucky — Athletics Director (2002-present)
Oregon State — Athletics Director (1998-2002)
Tennessee — Senior Assoc. AD (1986-98)
Southern Methodist — Asst. Executive Director,
Mustang Club (1983-86)
Oregon — Regional Director, Duck
Athletic Fund (1983)
San Diego State — Intern, Aztec Foundation (1982-83)
K E N T U C K Y B A S K E T B A L L
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