Amy Reis has been named NCAA director of women’s basketball, returning to the national office in Indianapolis to direct the national marketing and brand management efforts for NCAA women’s basketball and to ensure strategy alignment throughout the sport.
In joining the NCAA, Reis is departing her position as associate commissioner for championships and sports administration at the West Coast Conference, where she has worked since 2015. While at the West Coast, Reis served as a senior manager in the conference’s operational structure, with direct oversight of all 11 conference championship events, including the West Coast Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, which produced over $1.8 million in revenue in 2018. She also was the primary staff liaison to the West Coast’s Championship and Sports Administration Cabinet with a strong strategic role within the conference related to event management, branding and marketing while also having personnel and fiduciary responsibilities. In addition, Reis was the tournament manager for the NCAA Division I Women’s College Cup in 2016.
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“It’s an honor to be named as the director of NCAA women's basketball,” Reis said. “I fully recognize it is a privilege to serve in this leadership capacity to lead and work side-by-side with the internal and external stakeholders of the game where future opportunities exist to grow, nurture and capitalize on the merits of the sport as a whole at this exciting juncture in collegiate women’s basketball.”
The announcement signals a return for Reis to the NCAA national office, where she worked from 2008 to June 2015 in the brand strategies and events area and on the championships and alliances staff. While with the NCAA, Reis served as the branding, marketing and on-site account coordinator for numerous assigned championships, including Division I women’s volleyball, the Women’s College World Series, Division I men’s lacrosse, the Football Championship Subdivision and the Division II National Championships Festival.
“Amy brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experiences to our women’s basketball team. She will serve and lead the women’s basketball community in carrying forward the positive momentum that we are experiencing in collegiate women’s basketball,” said Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball. “She will work closely with the key stakeholders throughout the women’s basketball community to develop a long-term shared women’s basketball brand strategy and ensure integration into all aspects of the NCAA women’s basketball championships.”
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Reis attended Nebraska-Kearney, where she was on the basketball team and graduated in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations. After graduating, she was director of marketing and promotions at Eastern Illinois from 2005 to 2008 before joining the NCAA staff.
“My prior work experiences at the NCAA truly molded me as a sports professional,” Reis said. “To have the opportunity to return to the collegiate national governing body, under the leadership of NCAA Vice President of Women’s Basketball Lynn Holzman, positions me to further leave an impact nationally on the experiences of student-athletes — the essence of the collegiate model.
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“As a former student-athlete, I am grateful to be able to give back to a sport which positively sculpted me on and off the court of play,” Reis continued. “I want to acknowledge and thank my colleagues at the West Coast Conference for my recent experiences in college sports, which furthered my professional experiences, and I'm appreciative to have worked with the conference membership constituents who believed in the full merits of the foundation of intercollegiate athletics, which is consistent with those of a premier, nationally prominent Division I athletics conference. With that said, I’m energized to begin the next chapter of my career at the NCAA."
Reis will begin her work at the NCAA on September 4.
