NORFOLK — Old Dominion has been named one of the nation’s “Best College Athletic Departments,” as announced by Front Office Sports this week.
This year’s winners were determined by Sports Innovation Lab through its data-driven methodology. Athletic departments submitted applications and responded to questions about their facilities, NIL (name, image, and likeness), athlete mental health support, financial literacy training, career mentorship, career transitions and more.
“This is a great honor and tremendous reflection of the values and efforts of all within ODU and ODU athletics to support our student-athletes in their academic and athletic pursuits,” Monarchs athletic director Wood Selig said in a statement. “We are humbled and appreciative and certainly recognize the other outstanding programs included in this prestigious ranking.”
The other winners of the award were Clemson, South Florida, Oregon, Oklahoma, Fairfield and Wake Forest.
To recognize these departments, Front Office Sports and Sports Innovation Lab teamed up to identify those “modeling to the rest of the collegiate athletic sector how to innovate on behalf of college athletes of today and tomorrow,” according to Front Office’s website.