Ryan Bradley
Director of AthleticsAlma Mater: University of Arkansas '05, East Central MS '11
E-mail: ryanbradley@rsu.edu
Office Phone: 918-343-7782
Ryan Bradley was appointed as the director of athletics at Rogers State University in June 2011. Since taking the reins of Hillcat Athletic Department, Bradley has provided leadership and oversight for a historic period of growth and success on the Hill.
Under his guidance, RSU’s teams reached unprecedented heights in 2011-2012. The 10 Hillcat sports programs combined to post the highest winning percentage in school history and sent three teams and one individual competitor to national championship events. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams reached the national quarterfinals, matching the deepest tournament-run for either program. The RSU baseball team qualified for the World Series for the first time and capped a magical postseason with an appearance in the national championship game. Freshman Brenda Felipe claimed the Sooner Athletic Conference individual championship in cross country and became the first female runner to represent the Hillcats in a National Championship meet.
Bradley also directed the construction of more than $4 million in athletic facility improvements during his first year as AD. Renovations at the Diamond Sports Complex, home to the RSU baseball and softball teams, included new chair-back seating, concessions, restrooms, press boxes, a donors’ suite, club seating, ticket booth, and courtyard area. A synthetic turf surface was installed at Soldier Field, home of the RSU men’s and women’s soccer programs. A 9,000 square-foot fieldhouse was also constructed in the north end zone of Soldier Field, which includes locker rooms for the soccer and cross country teams, coaches’ offices, and a new athletic training area.
Finally, Bradley helped usher-in a new era of Hillcat Athletics as RSU was formally accepted into the NCAA membership process on July 13, 2012. Bradley spearheaded a nearly two-year initiative to prepare RSU for acceptance and a successful transition to NCAA Division II. He helped secure a home for the Hillcats in the Heartland Conference and is now charged with guiding the institution through a three-year process to obtain full membership status with the NCAA.
A Claremore, Okla. native, Bradley has served on the Hill since the inception of athletics in 2006. He was the school's first sports information director and was promoted to assistant athletic director for media relations and communications in March 2009. Bradley was elevated to associate athletic director for external relations in August 2010. At 28 years old, he became one of the youngest athletic directors in the country at a four-year institution.
Bradley has been instrumental in the development and organization of RSU's fundraising, marketing, and communication initiatives. As the associate athletic director, his duties included fundraising, marketing, promotions, game management, oversight of the media relations department and athletic administrator for several sports. During his five years in a support role, Bradley developed the school’s first athletic website (www.rsuhillcats.com) and produced several award-winning publications. Later, he launched a number of new media initiatives for the RSU athletics department. The Hillcats now offer live and on-demand high-definition video streaming for all home athletic events, audio streaming for select road events (including all postseason games), a custom RSU Athletics app for mobile devices, and boast popular Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.
Prior to joining the athletics staff at RSU, Bradley worked in the media relations office of the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bradley earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Arkansas where he gained experience as a student assistant in the athletic department. He earned a masters’ of sports administration from East Central University in July 2011.
Bradley and his wife Heather reside in Claremore. They have two children, Madison (10) and Baron (2).
