TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Director of Athletics
Sherard Clinkscales announced Thursday (August 13) that Associate Athletic Director
Ace Hunt has stepped down as Director of Athletic Communications and Digital Content to pursue other opportunities.
"I knew firsthand when I was hired what kind of talent and passion Ace had for his position and Indiana State," Clinkscales said. "His breadth of knowledge for Sycamore Athletics will be hard to replace. We'll miss him and the joy that he has brought to this department."
Hunt leaves Sycamore Athletics after 19 years at Indiana State, including the last four as the Associate Athletic Director for Communications & Digital Content. Hunt coordinated the publicity efforts for the Sycamore basketball, women's golf and women's soccer programs and oversaw all communications for ISU Athletics.
While at ISU, Hunt worked with the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Champions, the two-time Missouri Valley Conference Champion women's basketball program, and served as media relations coordinator for the 2001 & 2018 MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championship, the 2017 NCAA Great Lakes Cross Country Regional, the 2014 & 2016 MVC Baseball Tournaments as well as the 2003, 2005 & 2006 Women's National Postseason Invitation Tournaments. Hunt also worked for eight seasons with the Sycamore football program.
Hunt coordinated the publicity efforts of Jamie Petrowski, Melanie Boeglin and Laura Rudolphi in their successful All-America campaigns. Petrowski garnered All-America honors from a pair of organizations while Boeglin earned a trifectia of national honors. In addition, Boeglin and Rudolphi earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors. All told, Hunt has coordinated the publicity campaigns for 18 different academic all-district honorees as well as two Academic All-Americans.
In addition to various accomplishments within the media relations realm, Hunt served as the color commentator for football and baseball broadcasts and spent one season as play-by-play announcer for Indiana State women's basketball. He most recently was a color analyst for The Valley on ESPN broadcasts produced by Indiana State.
In his role with the Sycamores, Hunt oversaw the day-to-day operations of the athletics communications office and was the chief editor of the program's official website, GoSycamores.com. Hunt wrote features and recaps for the website and maintained all statistics and archived information regarding Sycamore athletics. He served as a liaison between the athletic department and various local, regional and national media outlets.
Hunt served on the athletics committee which oversaw the development of the ESPN3 Student Media Group at Indiana State. He set the broadcasting schedule for the group and provided leadership to talent and production workers. He also helped coordinate the group's efforts as part of a 10-year league-wide media rights deal between the Missouri Valley Conference and ESPN.
A member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Hunt came to ISU after a stint at Western Kentucky University where he served as an intern in the Hilltopper's Sports Information Office.
Prior to working at WKU, he was a student assistant in the University of South Carolina's Sports Information Office covering the swimming and diving programs, and was sports editor of The Daily Gamecock from '95-'96.
Hunt also spent a portion of the 2008-09 academic year as an assistant sports information director at Florida State. At FSU, Hunt worked with the national champion Cross Country & Track & Field Teams as well as the women's basketball and football programs.
A native of Woodruff, S.C., Hunt received his degree in Sports Administration from the University of South Carolina in 1999. He is the father of four children: Bryce O'Neal Hunt (18), Jackson Thomas Hunt (15), Ella Scarlett Hunt (13) and Lucy Mae Hunt (3).
