AD of the Year Finalist

ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Danny White is one of five finalists for the Sports Business Journal Athletics Director of the Year. The award is part of the Sports Business Awards, which have been handed out by the publication for the last 10 years.
 
White, who has been on the Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily Forty Under 40 list for the past two years, is the youngest ever to be named a finalist for the SBJ AD of the Year honor. The other four finalists for the 2018 honor are Jeff Bourne of James Madison, Boo Corrigan of Army West Point, Jim Phillips of Northwesstern and Sandy Barbour of Penn State.
 
"It's truly an honor to be recognized and to share the designation of finalist with such a distinguished group," White said. "We couldn't be successful without the amazing support we receive from our campus and our community. Any recognition of this sort is all due to the amazing student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors and fans we have at UCF."
 
UCF Athletics has accomplished a great deal in White's tenure of just 28 months at the helm of the Knights. Under his leadership, the Knights have seen great success in competition, in the classroom and in the community. 

UCF's football program went from winless in 2015 to six victories and a bowl game appearance in 2016. The Knights improved even more in 2017, finishing the season as the only undefeated team in the nation and claiming a national championship. The Knights finished 13-0 in the 2017 season, capping the incredible year with a 34-27 victory over Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
 
The UCF men's basketball team made a run to the NIT Final Four in 2017 under head coach Johnny Dawkins. The women's basketball team finished both its 2017 and 2018 seasons with the program's best-ever finishes in the American Athletic Conference. Head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson led the Knights to back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time in program history. White hired both Dawkins and Abrahamson-Henderson shortly after his arrival at UCF. The Knights have won seven conference titles during White's brief tenure. Another White hire – head baseball coach Greg Lovelady – led the Knights to a conference title and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012.
 
White oversees an athletics department that has boasted a semester grade-point average of 3.0 or better for 20 straight semesters, dating back to 2008. The Knights also boast the top NCAA Graduation Success Rate of any public university playing at the Football Bowl Subdivision. 

In his first two years on the job, White saw numerous game-changing gift commitments made to UCF Athletics. In February of 2017, Ken Dixon committed more than $5 million to UCF Athletics. It was the largest cash pledge ever to UCF by an alumnus. White was also instrumental in a $1.5 million gift commitment from John Euliano that will help fund a renovation of the UCF Baseball Complex, which will be known as John Euliano Park after its completion. Bob Garvy also committed $1 million toward the development of the Garvy Center for Student-Athlete Nutrition. The Knights also recently broke ground of the Roth Athletics Center, which will house the UCF administration and will include an expansion for football operations.
 
In addition, White has seen the UCF Football Excellence Fund raise more than $5 million in commitments over the next five years in an effort to sustain and continue to improve upon the success of the Knights' program.

Other highlights include the athletic department bringing its multimedia rights and corporate partnerships in house and an extended and improved apparel and shoe agreement with Nike.
 
White began his tenure at UCF in December of 2015.