President Sorensen Announces Eric Hyman As Carolina’s New Athletics Director

Eric Hyman Bio
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University of South Carolina President Andrew Sorensen announced Saturday (April 16) that Eric Hyman, athletics director at Texas Christian University, will become the university’s new athletics director.

Hyman, who succeeds Dr. Mike McGee, was approved earlier Saturday during a meeting of Carolina’s Board of Trustees. He will begin July 1.

Sorensen said he had interviewed 12 candidates, all of whom had impressive qualities, but Hyman, 54, embodies the character and traits for which he was searching.

“I am delighted to make this announcement,” Sorensen said. “After months of scouring the country for an individual who possesses the qualities that I was looking for, I am convinced that we have found that person in Eric Hyman. He is a man of unshakable integrity and judgment, a role model for student-athletes and a skilled administrator. I am confident that, with his vision and proven leadership at Division 1-A schools, he will lead Carolina athletics to unprecedented growth and success and build on the solid foundation laid by Mike McGee.”

For the last eight years, Hyman has served as TCU’s AD, overseeing construction and expansion of athletics facilities, the winning of 29 conference titles and academic achievements by TCU’s student-athletes. He spearheaded the move for TCU to join the Mountain West Conference, which becomes official in July. He also is credited with negotiating an innovative marketing partnership for TCU Athletics with ESPN Regional, the most extensive of its kind between a university and ESPN.

His successes have earned him accolades in sports circles.

Hyman was named the 2003-04 Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal National Athletics Director of the Year. That same year, he was chosen the Division 1-A West Regional Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

Hyman is no stranger to the Carolinas. He coached football for nine years and was associate athletics director at Furman University, where he earned his master’s degree in educational administration. He also coached women’s basketball at North Greenville College, leading the team to national rankings.

He has served as an executive associate athletics director at N.C. State University, athletics director at Virginia Military Institute and athletics director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. While Hyman was at Miami, the school’s student-athletes had the fifth-highest graduation rate among all NCAA Division I schools. Miami teams won 10 conference championships during his last two years.

Hyman played football for the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he was all-Atlantic Coast Conference, played in three bowl games and was on the Dean’s List.

Sorensen said he was impressed by Hyman’s abilities to connect with people.

“An AD must wear many hats, including that of chief ambassador for the university’s entire athletics program,” Sorensen said. “I believe he will be an outstanding representative of the University of South Carolina to fans, as well as community and business leaders.”

Eric Hyman

Athletics Director, University of South Carolina

Eric Hyman has been Texas Christian University’s athletics director for eight years, solidifying a national reputation as an architect of championship programs, an advocate for academic success and a skilled administrator.

Under his leadership, TCU teams have recorded 29 conference titles, and TCU student-athletes have achieved a graduation percentage rate higher than the overall student graduation rate, according to TCU’s latest reports. Hyman also spearheaded the effort for TCU to join the Mountain West Conference, a move that takes effect in July.

For his successes, Hyman was named the 2003-04 Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal National Athletics Director of the Year and also chosen as the Division I-A West Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

In the 2003-04 school year, TCU notched four Conference USA titles, winning crowns in men’s golf, women’s swimming and diving, women’s indoor track and field, and baseball, along with nine second-place finishes. The conference titles in women’s swimming and indoor track were the first ever in school history in those programs, while the baseball program reached the NCAA Tournament for just the third time ever.

Hyman was instrumental in orchestrating TCU’s invitation to join Conference USA. During the 2001-02 school year, TCU’s teams turned in the most successful overall season of any Conference USA member. The Horned Frogs’ debut campaign in the league featured one regular-season championship, five tournament championships and nine NCAA appearances, more than any other conference school.

That season came on the heels of the 2000-01 athletics campaign, arguably the best in school history, when TCU registered a school record eight Western Athletic Conference championships and had seven teams nationally ranked. TCU was one of only four schools to record 10 victories in football and 20 wins in both men’s and women’s basketball, and set a school record for football season tickets sold.

As TCU’s AD, Hyman worked diligently to improve athletics facilities. The first phase of a building plan included the construction of a soccer stadium, a track and football practice fields. Phase two included renovations to TCU’s coliseum and the construction of an athletics center. Phase three included the construction of a baseball stadium and basketball complex.

Hyman also negotiated an innovative marketing partnership for TCU athletics with ESPN Regional, the most extensive agreement of its kind between ESPN and a university, and hired top coaches, including football coach Dennis Franchione.

Before joining TCU, Hyman was athletics director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. During Hyman’s tenure, Miami had the fifth-highest student-athlete graduation rate among all NCAA Division I schools in the country. During his final two years, Miami won 10 conference championships.

Hyman has served as an executive associate athletics director at N.C. State University, athletics director at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and associate athletics director at Furman University, where he coached football for nine years and earned his master’s degree in educational administration. He also coached women’s basketball at North

Greenville College in South Carolina, taking the team to national rankings of No. 3 and No. 7. Hyman played football at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he was an all-conference football player and was on the Dean’s List.

Hyman’s wife, Pauline, also is an active academician with an athletics background. She played and coached women’s basketball, has taught sociology and psychology and has served as an administrator at the college level.

At Miami, she developed and taught the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills course for student-athletes, which she also teaches at TCU. The Hymans have two children, Ryan, who graduated from TCU in 2001 and works for L.T. Barton in Fort Worth, and Corrine, who is a 2004 graduate of TCU and works for Williams-Trew in Fort Worth.

University of South Carolina Athletics Department

Annual operating revenue of $52 million

20 varsity sports

Gamecock Club on track to collect $13 million in annual donor support this year and set a record exceeding last year’s record of $11.9 million.

Member of the Southeastern Conference since 1991

The three-year old Colonial Center, a $67-million building financed by the athletics department, drew its millionth fan this past season and was ranked as the top venue in the world for ticket sales in April 2004.

Carolina has emerged as one of the most competitive programs in the country, finishing a school-best No. 11 in 2002 in the Director’s Cup rankings nationally and No. 18 in 2003.

Since joining the SEC, USC has made more than $110 million in facility improvements.

For the sixth straight year, Carolina sold out its home season football tickets before the season opener, with attendance ranking in the top 10 nationally during that six-year period.

In 2005 Carolina men’s basketball clinched the NIT Championship.

In 2002 and 2003 Carolina won Outback Bowl championship, defeating Ohio State.

For the past eights seasons, 13 Gamecock head coaches have been named either National Coach of the Year or SEC Coach of the Year.

In 2004, Carolina student-athletes achieved the highest grade point average ever recorded, with a record 11 sports exceeding a 3.0 GPA.

Carolina athletes/coaches won five medals at 2000 Sydney Olympics and eight medals at 2004 Athens Olympics, including a record four gold medals in 2004.