From Florida A&M Sports Information:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | Florida A&M University’s new Vice President and Director of Athletics, Kortne Gosha, announced Friday the appointment of Arkansas Pine-Bluff’s Interim Atheltic Director, Keith McCluney, as the next Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief of Staff of FAMU Athletics.
“We are thrilled to welcome Keith McCluney to our Florida A&M Athletics family,” Gosha said. Keith brings a wealth of athletics administration experiences and oversight for external operations. His diverse background will be a key asset to our stragetic plan to move FAMU athletics to the NEXT LEVEL.”
McCluney will replace Dr. Genyne Boston as the Deputy Athletics Director. Boston submitted her letter of resignation from the position in early December. McCluney will start Jan. 3, 2020.
“I am excited for the opportunity to join this extraordinary team of professionals that will take Rattler Athletics to a new level of excellence,” McCluney said. “I cannot wait to get to Tallahassee and begin working on the infrastructure to support the extremely talented student-athletes, coaches, and dominant programs that we already have on The Hill.”
A native of Shelby, N.C., McCluney comes to Florida A&M after serving as the Executive Senior Associate AD/External and current Interim Director of Athletics at the University of Arkansas at Pine-Bluff.
During his time at UAPB, McCluney launched the “Golden Lion Fund” which is the official fundraising arm for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Since its launch in July 2019, the fund has grown to over $150,000 for unrestricted use by the Department of Athletics. Since his time as Interim AD, McCluney has led the department through the initial stages of a compliance audit and review with the NCAA Committee on Infractions, and has overseen the implementation of several academic improvement plans.
Additionally, McCluney launched the Golden Lion Scholar Athlete program (Fall 2019), which recognizes all student-athletes with a 3.0 GPA or higher; placing a patch on their jersey to be worn during competition in recognition of their high scholastic achievement.
Prior to his time with the Lions, McCluney served as the Associate Athletic Director for Development at Florida Atlantic University; however, his most significant contributions and impact came during his three years of leading the Blue Raider Athletic Association at Middle Tennessee State University. Under his leadership at MTSU, the Blue Raider Athletic Association experienced unprecedented growth and completely overhauled their development process while positioning the organization for sustained long-term annual fund growth and preparing the donor pool for future major capital projects.
Additionally, McCluney led two major capital projects; the renovation of the Athletics Sports Performance Center (which had an immediate and direct impact on student-athlete performance and success; producing bowl appearances, conference championships, and multiple NCAA Tournament berths for MT student-athletes) and the premium space renovation project at Floyd Stadium. The premium space renovations for Floyd Stadium’s open-air box seating area was as a major upgrade to the most sought after area of all athletic inventory and provided a substantial increase in revenue; while greatly improving the game day experience. MTSU Athletics opened a $6 million indoor tennis center (Adams Tennis Complex) during this era of unprecedented growth and has hosted local, regional, and national events since its opening.
McCluney is no stranger to the Power 5 or HBCU communities. Prior to his stint at MTSU, McCluney spent four years at Wake Forest University, where he served as the Director of Regional Development for the Deacon Club. As part of the Deacon Club team, McCluney’s primary focus was soliciting and securing major gifts to fund strategic initiatives and capital projects for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
McCluney played a major role in the early stages of the “Wake Will” Campaign that raised and surpassed $200 million for athletics; which transformed the athletic facilities of the historic Winston-Salem campus. Prior to his time with the Deacons, McCluney served in two other Power 5 administrative roles as the Assistant Director of Development at the University of Tennessee and the Assistant Director of Annual Giving at the University of Miami. McCluney began his athletics administration career as the Assistant AD for Marketing and Promotions at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, N.C.
McCluney is a former football student-athlete and graduate of Fayetteville State University, where he earned a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing. McCluney is also a graduate of the Sports Management Institute (SMI) and the North Carolina A&T State University Leadership Academy.
McCluney also has memberships to the National Association of Athletic Directors of Development (NAADD) and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
FAMU fans can follow Keith on Twitter at @kemccluney.
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