James Warnick joined the UCF Athletics Association as the associate director of strategic communications in July of 2023. He will serve as UCF’s sports information contact for the sport of baseball.
Warnick comes to UCF after spending the last 15 years at Utah Valley University where he served as a longtime SID for the Wolverines. During his tenure at UVU, he had the opportunity to work with most of Utah Valley’s sports, which included a number of years with the baseball and wrestling programs. While at UVU, he also spent time serving as the SID for women’s basketball, softball, volleyball, women’s golf, cross country, and track & field. He also assisted with men’s basketball and both men’s and women’s soccer.
While working with the Wolverine baseball program, Warnick had the opportunity to help publicize Utah Valley’s breakout 2012 season in which the team won a program-record 47 games (47-12) and posted a 32-game winning streak. He was also there when the baseball team won the 2016 WAC Tournament en route to advancing to the program’s first NCAA Regional appearance at the Baton Rouge Regional that year.
With the sport of wrestling, he helped spearhead the publicizing of Utah Valley’s jump into the Big 12 Conference in the summer of 2015 as an affiliate member in the sport. He also had the opportunity to travel to and work at 11 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships from 2010-2022, which included a trip to Madison Square Garden in 2016. Warnick helped publicize a total of five All-American wrestlers while at UVU, which included a trio of NCAA Championship semifinalists in Ben Kjar (2011), Taylor LaMont (2021) and Demetrius Romero (2021).
Warnick also previously served as the Director of Media Relations for the now defunct Western Wrestling Conference, from 2010-2015. While holding that position, he helped implement a website for the WWC, as well as start and oversee all social media sites for the league. He also facilitated all weekly and yearly conference awards, as well as assisted with running the conference championship during those years.
Warnick got his start in play-by-play broadcasting, as he served as a broadcaster for the Orem Owlz (Rookie League affiliate of the LA Angels) in 2008 and also as the play-by-play broadcaster for Utah Valley baseball and women’s basketball for a number of years. He also spent some time behind the mic for Wolverine men’s basketball during his early years at UVU.
Warnick received his bachelor’s degree in communication (journalism emphasis) from Utah Valley in 2008. During his undergrad, he served as a sportswriter for The College Times (now UVU Review), as well as a sports and news anchor for the student-ran news broadcast, NetX/UVX News.
A member of the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) and a graduate of the Sportscaster Camp of America, Warnick grew up in Pleasant Grove, Utah, where he attended Pleasant Grove High School and played baseball for the Vikings.
He and his wife, Lisa, have four children (Austin, Aubrey, Avery and Miles) and currently reside in Apopka.