HBCU Transactions

Allen University President Ernest McNealey announced today that Jasher Cox will be the university's new director of athletics after serving in the same capacity at Lincoln Memorial University since 2019.

In his first year at LMU, Cox oversaw an athletic department that witnessed four teams ranked in the top-15 nationally in their respective sport (men's basketball, men's golf, softball, and men's bowling) for the entirety of 2019-20. The men's basketball team enjoyed a 32-1 record that included a regular season and conference championship, as well as an all-divisions leading 32-game win streak that was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The men's golf team won three tournament championships during the season, and the women's soccer team won their second-straight South Atlantic Conference (SAC) championship. The softball team (16-5) and men's volleyball team (14-4) were also off to great starts before their respective seasons were halted.

"We are fortunate and pleased to continue widening and deepening the talent in the leadership pool at the University, Dr. McNealey said. "Not only is Mr. Cox a highly credentialed and experienced to assume the position he now holds, but he also embraces the philosophy all that can be imagined can be achieved."

"I am beyond excited to get started at Allen University while also serving the community of Columbia," said Cox. "Dr. McNealey is a first-class leader with a very strong commitment to intercollegiate athletics. I am looking forward to assisting the department further enhance its goals and working collaboratively with others to achieve elite national status."

In February of 2020, Cox created the AD's Academic Squad, a merit-based honor for Railsplitter student-athletes. Additionally, during the summer of 2020, he introduced revolutionary programming for student-athletes with "The Railway | A Five-Part Professional Development Series" that was aimed at giving student-athletes, coaches, and administrators a look at the outside world and the possible career paths that go along with it. The series featured the likes of Dawn Staley, head coach of the United States Women's National Team/current South Carolina head women's coach, former NBA star Eric Snow and Mark Wright, responsible for the launch of ESPN the Magazine.

The unique COVID-19 athletic year did not stop his programs from flourishing. Ending the 2020-21 season on a 30-game home court winning streak, men's basketball captured its league record ninth SAC regular season title in 11 years. Selected to the NCAA Championship field for the 10th time in 11 seasons, the Railsplitters made yet another trip to the Elite Eight and reached the national semifinals for the third time in the last six years after claiming their third Southeast Regional championship. His top-seeded and second-ranked men's golf team made a fifth consecutive NCAA South/Southeast Regional appearance and missed the national qualifying cut by a slender three strokes while softball fell seven innings shy of making the school's first-ever appearance in the field of eight national championship series. The Railsplitters boasted a 38-8 record, which tied the most victories in a single season in program history, earned the 2021 SAC regular season championship and boasted a top-five national ranking.

Overseeing a department that has grown from 14 intercollegiate sports offered to 25 over the past six years, Cox was a vital component in the process of adding field hockey and men's and women's wrestling (2021-22) to LMU's athletics portfolio in September of 2020.

Prior to his time at LMU, Cox was an assistant athletic director at Tuskegee University where he managed all internal operations of the department, including coordinating game management, game operations, facility maintenance and home event scheduling. He also handled the fiscal and personnel management of the athletics department and assisted with special projects. Cox was highly involved in resource development and strategic planning for the department and was responsible for growth massive within TU's fundraising efforts. In 2018, Cox helped the university land its very first regional television broadcast, which aired on the CW-Network in Montgomery, Alabama. He also helped lead the women's basketball head coach search committee that eventually led to the hiring of Trelanne Powell, who won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (SIAC) Western Division in her first season after posting a 20-6 overall record and a 13-3 league mark along with an NCAA postseason birth.

Before arriving at Tuskegee, Cox was the assistant commissioner of at the Horizon League in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he oversaw the league's creation and deployment of all ESPN streaming content. He served as the primary liaison to all broadcasting partners, insuring contract fulfillment, broadcast oversight and quality control management.

Along with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and the Horizon League, Cox assisted in co-hosting the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds at Bankers Life Field House.

Before joining the Horizon League, Cox served as the assistant commissioner at the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in Birmingham, Alabama. Throughout his over four-year tenure at the SWAC's headquarters, Cox managed all aspects of the SWAC Digital Network along with serving as the primary contact for men's basketball, football and golf. He also maintained the official SWAC website, SWAC.org, and developed sponsorship packages. Cox assisted in restructuring the league's football media day as well, which now has a live video stream and radio row.

Prior to his role at the SWAC, Cox was an assistant athletic director at Division I member Alabama State University 2009-12.

Earlier in his career, Cox was a producer for CBS 8 WAKA in Montgomery, Alabama. He covered Southeastern Conference news and was the producer of the evening newscast. During his time with CBS 8 WAKA, Cox covered the annual SEC Football Media Days as well as the 2005 Sugar Bowl and 2008 FBS National Championship game.

Cox's first career opportunity came in 1999 as a columnist for Inside the Auburn Tigers magazine. He would later co-host a regional sports call-in radio show centered in Auburn, Alabama, known as Sports Call.

As an undergraduate at his alma mater Auburn University, Cox was the official voice for the Tigers' softball and volleyball teams. Today, Cox still has SEC ties as he moderates all post-game press conferences at the league's annual baseball tournament in Hoover, Alabama.

Cox received his Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and media studies from Auburn along with a Master's of Public Administration.

~auyellowjackets.com