Jan. 11, 2006
Charles Waddell, Vice Chancellor of Institutional Advancement at Fayetteville State University, has been named Associate Athletics Director at the University of South Carolina, Athletics Director Eric Hyman announced today.
Waddell, 52, will oversee the athletic department’s policies and procedures, travel and the sports medicine program and will coordinate special projects. He will also serve as an administrator to several sports including women’s basketball, track & field and swimming & diving.
“We are very excited to have Charles Waddell join our management team,” said Hyman. “I have known Charles for years and he is an outstanding individual who will be a tremendous addition to our staff. He is an excellent administrator who possesses the values that are in-line with the university and the athletics department.”
Waddell, a former three-sport standout at the University of North Carolina, boasts an impressive and wide-ranging resume. At Fayetteville State, he has been responsible for all development and fundraising-related matters and for the planning and organization of university relations and public affairs programs. He worked in close partnership with the chancellor and members of the Board of Trustees on all development efforts, including the cultivation of individual donors, foundations and corporate sponsors.
“This is a great opportunity for me to get back into Division I athletics,” said Waddell. “In Dr. Sorensen and Eric Hyman, I’ll be working with some of the best college administrators in the country. I have known people like (track & field coach) Curtis Frye and (assistant basketball coach) Rick Duckett for years, so there are a lot of familiar faces for me at South Carolina,” he added. “These are exciting times at USC – not only with the football program, but throughout the athletics department and with university as a whole – and I could not be more fortunate to be a part of it.”
Waddell spent nearly 10 years of his professional career as the Director of Marketing and Sponsorships for Richardson Sports in Charlotte, where he was responsible for the advertising and corporate sponsorships for the Carolina Panthers Football Club. He helped generate over $100 million of revenue for the 1995 through the 2002 NFL seasons.
Prior to joining the Carolina Panthers, Waddell was the president and co-owner of Waddell Distributors, Inc., where he managed and funded a bottle water franchise for a three-year period.
Waddell served as an assistant commissioner for the Big Ten Conference from December 1990 to July 1994, where he created and supervised Big Ten Conference marketing and licensing programs. He also served as a representative to the Big Ten Conference compliance committee, minority advisory commission, sports medicine committee and the promotions & public relations committee. He served as the Conference liaison to athletics directors, head football coaches and track & field coaches.
Waddell is a 1975 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in industrial relations. He is the last three-sport letterman at UNC, earning letters in football (1972-74), track (1973) and basketball (1973-74). He was an all-ACC football player and earned The All-America honors from The Sporting News in 1974. He also received The Patterson Medal in 1975, which is the highest athletic award at UNC. Waddell played professional football with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers. He earned his Master’s degree in business from UNC in 1984.
Waddell and his wife, Sandra, have three grown children, Christa, Cassandra and Cortez.
