Veteran collegiate administrators Beth Goetz of Ball State and Jill Shields of Kansas State have been approved by the NCAA Division I Council Coordination Committee to become the newest members of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.
Both will begin their five-year committee terms Sept. 1. They step in for Rhonda Lundin Bennett, senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Nevada, and Leslie Claybrook, assistant commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, who are both departing after five years of committee service.
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Goetz, director of athletics at Ball State since June 2018, came to Muncie, Indiana, after serving as the chief operating officer for athletics at UConn since 2016. Before her time at UConn, Goetz was interim director of athletics and deputy athletics director/senior woman administrator at Minnesota from 2013 to 2016. She also worked in the athletics departments at Butler and Missouri-St. Louis.
A former collegiate soccer player at Brevard and Clemson, Goetz graduated from Clemson in 1996. She has extensive current and past NCAA committee and tournament experience, serving on the 2011 NCAA Women’s Final Four Local Organizing Committee in Indianapolis.
“I am honored to be appointed to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and grateful for the opportunity to bring forward the Mid-American Conference’s innovative commitment to the game,” Goetz said. “I am excited to work alongside such an outstanding team who is dedicated to the continued growth of the sport and ensuring we provide the best championship experience for student-athletes and fans.”
Shields, a 20-year veteran of the Kansas State athletics department, was promoted to deputy athletics director in 2017 after serving as executive associate athletics director for student services since 2015. In this role, she oversees the daily internal operation of the entire athletics department and also serves as the department’s senior woman administrator. Shields oversees the day-to-day operation of the football program and serves as the sport administrator for women’s basketball, track and field, cross country and volleyball.
She came to Kansas State after working at Wichita State for six years, including the last year as a senior admissions representative in the university’s admissions office. She spent the previous five seasons as an assistant women’s basketball coach for the Shockers.
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Shields earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Central Florida in 1990. A member of the Golden Knights basketball team, she was named most valuable player her senior year. Shields earned her master’s degree in education from North Georgia in 1992.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be selected to the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee,” Shields said. “I look forward to working with Lynn (Holzman) and my fellow committee members to serve our coaches, student-athletes and the women’s basketball community.”
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