STORRS, Conn. – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) announced on Monday that UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict has been named a NACDA AD of the Year award winner.
NACDA announced the 28 winners of this years awards that span seven divisions (NCAA FBS, FCS, Division I-AAA, II, III, NAIA/Other Four-Year Institutions and Junior College/Community Colleges). Winners will be recognized in conjunction with the 60th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Fla., at the beginning of the Association-Wide Featured Session on Tuesday, June 10, starting at 4 p.m.
The ADOY Award highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses and their surrounding communities.
Benedict is in the midst of his ninth season leading the UConn athletic department has had a dynamic impact on Husky athletics, fueling incredible growth and tremendous success.
UConn's athletic prominence under Benedict has been cemented with four national championships, 21 conference regular season championships and 35 conference tournament championships and multiple bowl appearances during his tenure. The 2023-24 season was highlighted by a back-to-back National Championship for the men's basketball program, the sixth in program history. In addition, UConn captured a total of 11 conference championships, nine BIG EAST regular season and conference championships and two Hockey East regular season and conference championships. The Huskies were the recipients of the BIG EAST President's Award for the 2023-24 season while UConn was one of seven institutions nationally to rank in the top-25 in both the men's (3rd) and women's (24th) Capital One Cup final standings.
In addition, last season also saw the women's basketball team captured their 23rd BIG EAST championship, the men's and women's track and field programs captured their third-straight BIG EAST indoor and outdoor championships and the baseball team winning the BIG EAST title while making their second NCAA Super Regional appearance in the last three years. The UConn women's hockey team captured the program's first-ever Hockey East regular season and tournament titles and the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
Benedict helped orchestrate one of the most important decisions in UConn athletic history in 2020, finalizing UConn's move to the BIG EAST Conference. The move included Benedict's bold decision to have the UConn football team play as an FBS independent. That decision coupled with the hiring of head football coach Jim Mora has led to the rejuvenation of the Huskies' program, culminating in two postseason bowl appearances in the last three years. In addition, his hiring of head men's basketball coach Dan Hurley in 2018 has led to pair of National Championships.
He has overseen a dramatic improvement in the athletic facilities at UConn, helping to facilitate the implementation of over $250 million in capital projects over eight years. Over the past four years, the department has seen new state-of-the-art homes for baseball, softball, volleyball and men's and women's ice hockey, putting the Storrs Campus athletics facilities among the best in the nation. In the spring of 2025, construction will begin on a $90 million dollar state-of-the-art student-athlete performance and academic support facility on the Storrs campus and $110 million for towards renovations to Gampel Pavilion.
Benedict's steadfast emphasis on the classroom has remained evident. In 2023-24, UConn student-athletes achieved a record graduation success rate of 92%, with 76% of student-athletes earning a 3.0 or better term grade point average with 82 student-athletes earning a 4.0. For the season, 100 student-athletes were named to the Dean's List in their respective school or college, 30 student-athletes were named New England Scholars, and eight student-athletes were named Babbidge Scholars.
Benedict was instrumental in developing strategies that led to yearly increases in self-generated revenue production. Under Benedict's leadership, UConn's self-generated revenues for the athletic department in FY24 amounted to $7.6 million increase from FY23 and a 43.5% increase from FY22. UConn athletics were paramount to the state of Connecticut, contributing more than $242.7 million to the state's economy through events and annual operating activity last year.
The ADOY Award program is in its 27th year and has recognized a total of 605 deserving athletics directors to date.
About NACDA: Now in its 60th year, NACDA is the professional and educational Association for more than 24,000 college athletics administrators at more than 2,300 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. NACDA manages 19 professional associations and four foundations. In addition to virtual programming, NACDA hosts and/or has a presence at seven major professional development events in-person annually. The NACDA & Affiliates Convention is the largest gathering of collegiate athletics administrators in the country. For more information, visit
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