Patrick Pierson
Courtesy photo
The man who helped propel the “Dunk City” mania during Florida Gulf Coast University’s improbable run through the 2013 NCAA Tournament is now part of the Razorback media relations team.
The UA on Saturday announced that Patrick Pierson, former FGCU assistant athletics director for communications, has been hired as Associated Media Relations Director at Arkansas.
Pierson will be the primary contact for communications for the Razorback men’s basketball and men’s golf teams.
Named FGCU’s fourth full-time Director of Sports Information in July 2010, Pierson was elevated to an executive administrative role within the department in the summer of 2012. He was responsible for the publicity and branding of all 15 sports at FGCU, the Eagles’ official website, the department’s social media efforts, Atlantic Sun TV broadcasts and overseeing FGCU’s radio and TV negotiations in addition to serving as the primary contact for men’s basketball, men’s soccer, baseball, men’s golf and men’s tennis. He also added sport administrator duties for baseball and men’s soccer in his time at FGCU.
During FGCU’s run to the Sweet 16 of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the first by a 15-seed in tournament history, Pierson helped catapult Dunk City to a household name and a consistent national trending topic by implementing a season-long strategy made more aggressive by the program’s opportunity on the sport’s biggest stage.
Even before FGCU’s 2013 NCAA Tournament run, Pierson was instrumental in developing and implementing an aggressive social media strategy for the program, including helping to prepare student-athletes to use social media, and promoting athlete accounts in the game notes and online bios on the department website.
Pierson comes to Arkansas with nine years of Division I athletics experience, including six as the head of a media relations staff. Pierson took over the FGCU office following six years at St. Bonaventure University of the Atlantic 10 Conference, including the last three as the Sports Information Director.
A native of Frewsburg, N.Y., Pierson graduated from Robert Morris University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in sport management. During his stay at Robert Morris, Pierson worked in the athletic department’s sports information office for three years and had a one-year stint as a marketing intern. Also, while in Pittsburgh, Pierson served as a promotions intern for the nationally recognized Pittsburgh’s ESPN Radio 1250 AM and as a NFL Experience intern for the Pittsburgh Steelers for two years.
