MC’s John Painter tapped to join College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame class of 2025
Jan. 10, 2025
By the time John Painter arrived at Maryville College in August 2021 to serve as the assistant athletics director for communications, he’d spent the majority of his career advocating for the successes of numerous NCAA institutions.
Now, on the eve of his retirement at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, Painter closes out that career in style as one of the newest members of the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award to accompany the honor. Painter’s selection, along with five peers from across the country, was announced on Monday by the professional organization, which will salute the new Hall of Fame class in June at the Orlando World Center Marriott as part of the 2025 College Sports Communicators #CSCUnit25 annual convention.
“CSC’s … Hall of Fame annually honors many outstanding athletics communicators for their contributions to the profession and national association,” said CSC Interim Executive Director Will Roleson. “Honoring deserving members and others who have contributed to CSC is a hallmark of our organization, and we look forward to saluting this year’s honorees for their achievements at our upcoming convention.”
Founded in 1957, CSC is a 4,400-plus member “national association for strategic, creative and digital communicators across intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada,” according to the organization’s website. Previously known as the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the CSC works to assist communications and public relations professionals at all collegiate levels with development and continuing education, and to serve as a leadership and resource role within the overall collegiate athletics enterprise to assist other groups and their respective memberships navigate communications-based issues across the college sports world.
Prior to joining the Athletics staff at Maryville College, Painter served as the director of athletic communications at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, supervising a staff of seven and covering league championships in football, men’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s hockey and men’s lacrosse. During his time at Colgate, he served as a member of the inaugural CoSIDA Division I Cabinet, and also served as chair of the NCAA Statistics and Advisory Committee.
No stranger to East Tennessee, his previous roles include serving as associate media relations director and primary head football coach contact for the University of Tennessee Volunteers from 2001-2010, where he facilitated media access to head coaches Phillip Fulmer and Lane Kiffin, and in 2011 and 2012, he was the director and chief features writer for UT websites, winning three 2012 CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest first-place awards, among other accolades.
At Maryville College, he’s chronicled the Scots notching six Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) regular season championships since joining the new league in the fall of 2022, as well as six CCS tournament titles: men’s basketball in 2022-23 and 2023-24, women’s soccer in 2023 and 2024, softball in 2024 and baseball in 2024. In addition, the Scots received four bids to NCAA tournament action during Painter’s tenure, and his contributions to Athletics administration at MC are helping make the College’s transition to the new Southern Athletic Association conference a seamless one, added Dr. Andrew Wu, director of Athletics at MC.
On Thursday, at the close of a week of announcements regarding its 2025 award recipients, the CSC tacked on one final honor to Painter and nine of his peers: A Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to members for distinguished career service who have worked for at least 25 years in the profession and who are retiring, have retired or are leaving the athletic communications profession. Painter will officially retire at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
“I can’t say enough about how lucky Maryville College is to have John Painter leading our Athletics Communications function,” Wu said. “JP’s vast experience helps us all bring our best to the table, and he’s an absolute pleasure to work with every day. He demonstrates incredible commitment to his work and cares deeply about the opportunity to highlight our students and coaches. He’s truly beloved in our department, and we’re all thrilled that he’s receiving this well-deserved honor.”
In addition to Painter, the CSC selected for its 2025 Hall of Fame class Lonza Hardy Jr., retired athletic administration and communications leader at Alcorn State, Southern University, Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), among others; Larry Hymel, retired sports information director at Southeastern Louisiana University; Tony Neely, assistant athletic director for Athletic Communications and Public Relations at the University of Kentucky; Scottie Rodgers, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association/Goodyear Cotton Bowl vice president of communications; and Cindy Potter, director of athletics at Columbia College in Missouri and former CSC president.
“These men and women represent the very best of our membership and have distinguished themselves by serving intercollegiate athletics and their communities,” said College Sports Communicators President Kevin Trainor, who also serves as the University of Arkansas senior associate athletics director. “We look forward to honoring our CSC Hall of Fame inductees and all of our Special Award winners at CSCUnite25 in Orlando this June.”
