 | Position:
Director of Athletics
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Steve Watson enters his second full year as the Director of Athletics at Loyola University Chicago. Hired on Nov. 12, 2014, Loyola athletics has already shown improvement under his guidance and continues to strive for greatness under his leadership.
Officially taking the reins early in 2015, Watson was instrumental in men's basketball's run to the 2015 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) title. Making their first postseason appearance since advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1985, the Ramblers went a perfect 5-0 in CBI play, including a 4-0 mark in the cozy confines of Gentile Arena.
Just four weeks later, Loyola's men's volleyball team added a second championship to the trophy case, knocking off Lewis in a thrilling, five-set match to earn its second straight national championship.
The Ramblers have also maintained their high performance in the classroom during Watson's tenure. Loyola's 98 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) score put it in a third-place tie nationally with the likes of Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Princeton, Stanford and Yale and the Ramblers saw 146 of its student-athletes earn a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll.
Watson came to Loyola after seven-plus years as the Director of Athletics at St. Bonaventure University. Named to his post there in 2007, athletics thrived under Watson's leadership. The men's basketball program, under one of Watson's first hires, Mark Schmidt, enjoyed a renaissance, winning the first Atlantic-10 Conference title in school history in 2012 and returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 12 years. The women's program also took off and reached the postseason five times in seven years, including a watershed 2011-12 season that saw the team finish with a program-best 31-4 record, complete with a trip to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. As important, the Bonnies were able to maintain a high level of competitiveness in one of the country's top basketball leagues.
While the basketball programs took center stage, several other programs enjoyed a tremendous amount of success under Watson. St. Bonaventure's women's soccer team qualified for the conference tournament in six straight seasons and its men's and women's cross country teams enjoyed their best-ever seasons.
Academic success came hand-in-hand with the school's on-field improvement, as St. Bonaventure's graduation rates and Academic Progress Rate (APR) numbers continued to climb.
In addition, Watson was instrumental in helping with facility improvements for Bonnies athletics, most notably spearheading a $2 million upgrade to the university's multi-purpose field for soccer, lacrosse and club rugby that was unveiled this fall. That project was part of St. Bonaventure's athletics strategic plan entitled "Your Teams, Our Extraordinary Future" that Watson co-chaired in 2012. He has also overseen the construction of a new $300,000 women's basketball locker room, a $200,000 renovation of the men's basketball locker room, and the unveiling of Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center, which featured a new court, scoreboards and sound system while also serving as a tribute to St. Bonaventure's most famous alumnus.
Watson moved into the first chair after a six-year stint (2001-07) at Eastern Michigan University, one year as Assistant Athletics Director for Facilities & Operations and five years as Associate Athletics Director for Internal Operations. While in Ypsilanti, Watson was the athletic program administrator for 12 programs while also overseeing the marketing/promotions, sports information, strength and conditioning and equipment departments.
Prior to Eastern Michigan, Watson served as the Director of Marketing & Promotions at the University of Dayton (1999-2001) after getting his start in intercollegiate athletics as a Marketing Assistant at the University of Georgia (1998-99).
Watson moved into athletic administration after a successful basketball-playing career. He played two seasons at Rutgers before transferring to Bowling Green for his final two years, after which he embarked on a seven-year professional career overseas that included stops in France, Portugal and Taiwan.
He graduated from Bowling Green in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interpersonal & Public Communications and went on to earn a Master of Sport Administration degree from Ohio University in 1998.
A native of Franklinville, N.Y., the 48-year-old Watson and his wife, Ann, have three children; Abby (21), Allison (18) and Jackson (15), with Allison participating on Loyola's women's volleyball squad this season as a freshman.
