Winthrop SID, Jack Frost, To Retire After 27 Years At The School
ROCK HILL, SC –Winthrop Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Jack Frost has announced he will retire at the end of June after serving nearly 27 years at the University.
Frost will close out a distinguished career in which he has directed Winthrop’s publicity efforts since Oct. 15, 1990, first as sports information director and later as assistant AD for media relations. He will leave Winthrop after serving the second longest SID tenure in Big South Conference history.
In all, his career has spanned 45 years, and includes 14 years in the public information and sports information offices at his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky University, and four years as news editor of the Richmond (KY) Daily Register.
“I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with so many outstanding young men and women athletes, coaches and administrators during my time at Winthrop and at EKU,” said Frost. “I had originally planned to work another year, but as we all know in life, plans are subject to change.” Frost says he is looking forward to having control of his daily schedule for the first time in 45 years.
“There are many people whom I would like to thank. Foremost, I want to thank Dr. Anthony DiGiorgio, Steve Vacendak, and Tom Hickman for bringing me to Rock Hill and giving me the opportunity to work for an outstanding university and athletic department. I also want to thank my best friend, retired EKU SID Karl Park, who got me involved in the profession during my undergraduate days at Eastern. I have always tried to repay the trust they had in me by generating recognition and honors for our many deserving student-athletes, coaches, and teams,” he says.
“Since my arrival at Winthrop, I have been blessed to have had a quality support staff whether that came from graduate assistants, interns, or my current fulltime assistant Brett Redden, who has been with me for the last 16 years,,” said Frost. “One thing I am most proud of are the 14 former student assistants and interns who have gone on to become professionals in sports information and communication fields across the country.”
During his time at Winthrop, Frost strived to bring innovations and upgrades to the office. In 1990-91, he introduced the use of computerized courtside statistics to the athletic department and the Big South Conference basketball championship tournament. In 1996, even before Winthrop or any conference member had a presence on the World Wide Web, Frost worked to have the athletic department on the internet. He saw a need for social media and video services staffing in athletics and as a result hired the first two people to staff those positions at Winthrop. Under his guidance, radio broadcasts and internet streaming opportunities were expanded for Winthrop sports teams.
He also spearheaded the regional and national media coverage during the men’s basketball Big South Conference dynasty that saw the Eagles capture nine conference championships and make nine NCAA tournament appearances over a 12-year period from 1999-2010.
Winthrop’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 1999 resulted in the university receiving more than $2 million in national media exposure. Frost received a Presidential Citation for his role in that achievement.
In addition to his work with men’s basketball, Frost also served as the primary contact for baseball during the 1990s and helped publicize the Eagles’ first NCAA Regional appearance in 1995.
He handled publicity for Winthrop’s volleyball dynasty that resulted in five consecutive Big South championships and NCAA tournament appearances in the 2000s. He coordinated publicity efforts for the women’s basketball team in 2013 when it captured its first post-season win in the WNIT and in 2014 when the Eagles won their first Big South championship and appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Frost has also been responsible for the media recognition earned by the women’s tennis and men’s tennis programs that have accounted for 23 Big South titles.
He worked with former Athletic Director Tom Hickman to establish the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, and was also an advocate for the Big South Conference’s decision to begin its Hall of Fame and has served on the selection committee since 2003. During the mid-1990s, Frost was instrumental in the establishment of Big South Conference All-Academic Team and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in each sport and in 2013 introduced the idea to recognize the All-Decade Teams in conjunction with the Big South Conference’s 30th Anniversary Year.
In addition to his duties at Winthrop, Frost has served two terms as Chairman of the Big South Conference Sports Information Director’s Committee. He has been involved with CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) for 34 years, and has served on the Workshop Program Committee, as a workshop panel presenter, and a moderator for several panels and table topic discussions. He also served as the Big South Conference’s representative on the University Division Management Advisory Committee.
