Thomas L. Scott established lasting standards of success and sportsmanship. He coached four sports and also served as athletic director during the first 11 years after ODU was founded as the Norfolk Division of The College of William and Mary,.

Tommy Scott fielded winning teams in football, basketball, baseball, and track from 1930 to 1941 when he retired to a business career. He also taught trigonometry, algebra, and other courses.

Playing on borrowed courts and competing on fields they built under Scott's guidance, Division athletes earned increasing success against a wide array of opponents. Many high schools appeared on early schedules but the competition became tougher as the years went by and the Division played college frosh and other two-year and four-year colleges.

Scott's 1932 grid squad earned a 9-1 record and the distinction of playing in a post-season game that was billed the following year as the Orange Bowl. Twelve thousand fans saw the University of Miami beat the visiting Braves by a 6-2 score.

The won-lost slate during the Braves' first six years shows the football team with a 44-12-2 record, basketball with 95-26, and baseball with 58-22.

The individual athletic brilliance of Scott had been well established at Maury High in Norfolk and at Virginia Military Institute long before he took on the challenging task of coaching teams in four sports for a new college without gyms, playing fields or any other athletic facilities.

His exploits in football, basketball, baseball, and track placed him in Maury's Sports Hall of Fame when he graduated in 1926.

Scott became a charter member of VMI's Sports Hall of Fame in 1972 as an outstanding left end. An honorable mention All-American in football even though he weighed only 165 pounds. He also lettered in basketball and baseball in Southern Conference competition.

Tommy Scott's remarkable influence in the formative years of ODU's athletic program is reflected even today in an endowed athletic scholarship and an annual award bearing his name. He died in July 1962.

Thousands of college and high school athletes continue to compete in t rack and swimming competitions that Joseph "Scrap" Chandler helped to originate as long ago as 1924.

Joseph Chandler was renowned as an athlete and a coach which has earned him a place in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame as well as the ODU Sports Hall of Fame.

A small man who captained both baseball and track teams at The College of William and Mary, Chandler hit several tape measure home runs and raced to records in 880 and mile competition. Hired by the Tribe as a coach upon graduation in 1924, he brought them IC4A membership, a track distinction that belongs to no other college south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Chandler transferred in 1942 to the Norfolk Division of The College of William and Mary to become coach, athletic director, and head of health and physical education program. He coached baseball and basketball until 1948. Chandler retired as athletic director in 1963 and gave up swimming in 1965 but continued as co-coach of the track team until he retired in 1968.

He played a key role in designing the new health and physical education field house and creating an excellent track inside Foreman Field. Chandler helped build a track program that included 26 straight dual meet wins and four Little Eight championships. He achieved national recognition for the college in baseball and he establish a highly regarded swimming program.

His vast stores of knowledge about both track and swimming was frequently sought by head coaches at major universities.

Chandler founded the following events: Tidewater Meet held since 1924 in Williamsburg, Virginia High School Swimming Meet, Little Eight track and cross country meets, Eastern District High School track and cross country meets, Eastern District swimming meet, and the Virginia High School Track Meet.

A fully endowed athletic scholarship commemorates his many contributions and enables other outstanding athletes to carry on in his tradition. The ODU swimming pool also has been named in his honor, partly in recognition of nearly 30,000 Virginia youngsters having learned to swim in a program he established in the mid-1940s.

Bud Metheny served Old Dominion University for 32 years, joining the athletic staff in 1948 as head baseball and basketball coach, and later as athletic director. His first love was baseball, a sport he devoted all of those 32 years toward, rolling up a 423-363-6 record. He was honored by the NCAA as the Eastern Regional Coach of the Year in 1963 and 1964 when his Monarchs captured those College Division crowns. Metheny was named National Coach of the Year in 1964.

Bud served as head basketball coach from 1948-1965, compiling a 198-163 record and posting 16 winning seasons. The 198 wins is the most among men's basketball coaches at Old Dominion. He served as the university's athletic director from 1963-1970. "I've seen the school progress from an enrollment of about 1,000 to 15,000, "noted the veteran coach. "I'll always have a deep feeling for the institution. Considering my long association with Old Dominion, I'm probably one of the few people who could have this type of feeling, it's that strong."

Metheny came to Old Dominion after a career with the New York Yankees organization from 1938-47. Bud started for the Yankees in the second and last game of the 1943 World Series as the Yankees defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1984, to honor Bud and his days with the Yankees, Old Dominion University adopted the white home uniform with blue pinstripes. This coincides with the University's new colors, adopted in 1986.

Bud was enshrined in the College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in January of 1983 in Dallas, Texas, and is a member of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the William and Mary Hall of Fame and the Tidewater Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1940 William and Mary graduate (he earned his M.Ed from William and Mary in 1952) launched his managerial career in 1948 piloting the boston Red Sox Class "D" team in Baxley, Ga. He spent the next two years in the Piedmont League (Class "B") playing outfield for the Portsmouth team in 1949-50 and managing the Newport News team in 1950. Despite those commitments, Metheny still found time to begin his 32-year Old Dominion career in the spring of 1948.

On Jan. 2, 2003 Bud Metheny and his wife Fran died on the same day due to long illnesses.

AD Jarrett's Timeline of Accomplishments

Norfolk - Old Dominion University athletic director Dr. James Jarrett announced today that he will retire from Old Dominion University in June of 2010. Jarrett has been the Athletic Director at Old Dominion University for the past 40 years.

Jarrett came to Old Dominion in 1967 as an associate professor in Health and Physical Education and was named athletic director in the spring of 1970, replacing Bud Metheny. Under his leadership, Old Dominion teams have won 28 championships, and maintained a 91 per cent exhausted graduation rate.

"There have been many successes for our program over my 40 years, but significant ones for me personally include the graduation rate of our student-athletes, national championships, our overall Division I success, and leadership role in women's athletics, the development of our athletic venues and the ODU Sports Hall of Fame, our long standing rivalry in women's basketball with Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Vols and the accomplishments of Beth Anders and our field hockey program," says Jarrett.

Old Dominion was competing on the NCAA Division II level when Jarrett took the reins in 1970, winning the school's first national crown in 1975 when the men's basketball team defeated New Orleans for the title. The following year the Monarch athletic program made the leap to NCAA Division I status and quickly made a name for itself as a member of the ECAC South Conference.

His "selective excellence" philosophy of fielding teams in sports where ODU could be nationally competitive played a huge role in the program's success. The Monarchs athletic program has won the Virginia Sports Information Directors Cup a record 12 times for posting the highest, collective team winning percentage among all of the state's NCAA Division I universities.

"I will have more to say later about the contributions of specific athletic staff, University and community leaders to Monarch's athletic success, but it is important to note that many, many people have played a significant role in our success during my tenure," said Jarrett.

Jarrett was a pioneer on intercollegiate women's athletes, becoming one of the first athletic directors in the nation to provide scholarships to female student athletes in 1974. Of the 28 national team titles ODU has won during his tenure, 18 of those have been achieved by women's teams, with three in women's basketball, nine in field hockey, and six in women's sailing. ODU hosted the first NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four in 1982 and repeated in 1983, in addition to hosting three NCAA field hockey national tournaments and two national sailing championships. The Lady Monarchs led the nation in women's basketball attendance from 1978-1983, set an NCAA record 17 straight conference championship streak from 1992-2008 and the field hockey program earned a record six Honda Award winners (national player of the year) during his tenure.

Old Dominion's athletic facilities grew from housing all of its sport programs in the ODU Field house, which opened in his first year as athletic director, to its current status as one of the most comprehensive and impressive athletic physical plants in the nation. Under Jarrett's leadership, the Bud Metheny Baseball stadium, ODU sailing center and dock, Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center, the ODU soccer stadium and office complex, the Athletic Administration Building and wrestling addition, Powhatan Sports Complex, Lambert's Point golf course - home to ODU men's and women's golf, and Foreman Field refurbishments were all added as athletic venues. The ODU boat house, home to the University women's rowing team, will be opened in 2010.

Jarrett played a key role in the growth of the Big Blue Club, the fund raising arm of athletics. The program was raising $5,000 a year when Jarrett took the reins in 1970, with less than 50 members. Currently, the Big Blue Club has grown to over 1700 members, contributing more than $4 million annually for athletic scholarships, and an additional $22 million in endowments.

He was a charter member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee, serving from 1981-1989. He also served as president of the CAA, the Sun Belt Conference and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, and was instrumental in the creation of the ODU Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. He has been honored many times throughout the years for his leadership, including being named the NACDA Southeast regional Athletic Director of the Year, the Man of the Year by the Norfolk Sports Club, the Collegiate Director of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and he was recognized in 2007 with a Lifetime Achievement award by NACDA. In 2005, Jarrett was recognized with the Distinguished Service award by VaSID, the Virginia Sports Information Directors' Association. He will be inducted into the Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame in October.

"During my 40 years as Director of Athletics at Old Dominion University, the Board of Visitors and University administrative leaders have provided the support and financial resources needed for us to successfully compete in Division I of the NCAA," Jarrett remarks.

"A quality program requires outstanding facilities, fully funded scholarships and quality, experienced coaches. The selective excellence approach at Old Dominion provided eight sports for men and eight sports for women with fully funded scholarships, quality coaches and tremendous facilities that continue to get better in order to keep up with the competition and changing facility needs. "The addition of football and crew and soon to be added softball and volleyball has and will stretch the selective excellence concept. I challenge our future leaders to meet these needs without reducing current program funding," adds Jarrett. "I take great pride in the Monarch's success and appreciate the contributions that our many alumni and fans, the student body, and our Big Blue Club have provided toward winning, graduation and championships."

Jarrett, a native of Decatur, IL, earned his undergraduate and master's degrees in physical education from Southern Illinois (Carbondale), and a doctorate in higher education from Florida State University. An avid tennis player for many years, he and his wife Sugie, remain active in the Hampton Roads tennis scene.

"Jim Jarrett is highly-respected by Old Dominion University fans and the collegiate athletic community as a whole," ODU President John R. Broderick noted. "His creation and leadership of a well-regarded and successful Division I athletic program at Old Dominion stands as a model for programs across the country. His commitment to excellence created nationally competitive teams, provided exciting and fun athletic events for fans, and led to the recruitment of student-athletes who excelled in both the athletic arena and the classroom. Old Dominion boasts a first-class athletic program thanks, in large part, to the tireless efforts of Jim Jarrett."

Dr. Camden Wood Selig is in his 14th year as Director of Athletics at Old Dominion University, where his “Championship Effort” philosophy has helped guide the department as one of the most respected and successful intercollegiate programs in the nation. Of the 133 FBS Athletic Directors, Selig is the 13^th longest FBS tenured in the country. He is in his 25^th year as a Division I AD.

During his tenure, Selig has directed the University’s move through two FBS conferences and has Old Dominion positioned strongly in the Sun Belt Conference. He has overseen the transition of a startup FCS football program to the FBS level, led major athletic facility expansion and enhancement for virtually all 18 programs, and added women’s volleyball in 2019.

One needs only to visit the ODU campus to see Selig’s contributions to the growth and improvement of Monarch athletic venues with well over $100 million invested in Intercollegiate athletic facilities since his arrival. Projects completed and initiated under Selig include:

·      ODU opened the $67.5 million Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium on Saturday, August 31, 2019 against Norfolk State. The stadium rebuilding was completed in nine months.

·      A $20 million baseball renovation began in the fall of 2022. The new stadium, which should be complete for the 2026 season, will be called the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex.

·      The Bernett & Blanche Mitchum Basketball Performance Center, a privately funded $8.4 million state-of-the-art facility, is complete and is the new training center for the ODU men’s and women’s basketball teams.

·      The $3.5 million repurposing of the arena in the Jim Jarrett Athletic building is now the brand-new 900 seat home of the ODU women’s volleyball program.

·      A $3.5 million expansion of L.R. Hill support facility for football, women’s field hockey, and women’s lacrosse, including a new state-of-the-art weight room.

·      The addition of a $2.3 million video replay scoreboard, LED ribbon panels, and digital tables at Chartway Arena.

·      The $600,000 Paul A. Keyes Indoor Hitting Complex, which opened in the fall of 2014.

As collegiate athletic costs continue to rise, Selig has placed a premium on increasing privately generated revenue. Since his arrival in 2010:  

·      Total ODAF philanthropic gifts for athletics have surpassed $140 million.

·      Corporate sponsorship revenue has surpassed $33 million.

·      Staff giving to the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation (ODAF) has remained at 100% for thirteen consecutive years.

And, in ODU’s first year in the Sun Belt Conference, they led in attendance for men’s and women’s basketball and set a single-season ODU record for football.

One of the most dramatic and gratifying accomplishments for Selig has been the academic success of the 18 teams. Highlights from 2022-23 include:

·      An ODU record 197 student athletes (49%) earned Dean’s List honors with a 3.4 or higher GPA.

·      An ODU record 3.26 cumulative GPA for all 475 student-athletes.

·      At least a 3.0 GPA recorded by 71% of student-athletes.

·      A 3.0 GPA or higher for 16 of 18 teams.

Monarch teams have performed well on the playing fields under Selig, highlighted by:

·      Fifteen Conference Championships since 2010, including back-to-back championships for women’s soccer and three straight conference championships for women’s tennis.

·      ODU’s three Sun Belt Conference Championships in 2022-23 were the second most in the league and the most of the four new arrivals (ODU, James Madison, Marshall, Southern Miss).

In Selig’s tenure there have also been numerous firsts and achievements that haven’t been accomplished in many years, including:

·      Linebacker Jason Henderson in 2022 became the first ODU football player to earn All-America honors at the FBS level.

·      In 2016, ODU participated in its first bowl game in the Bahamas. In 2021, went to its 2^nd bowl game in Myrtle Beach.

·      Women’s soccer won its first C-USA Championship in 2022 and first conference championship since 2006.

·      In June 2022, baseball first baseman Matt Coutney was named C-USA Player of the Year and honored on four All-American teams. Additionally, he earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors becoming the first baseball player in 17 years to be named an Academic All-American.

·      In May 2021, the women’s tennis team won the Conference USA Championship for the first time, its first conference championship since 2001. They have since won three-straight conference championships and have won an NCAA first round Tournament match three-straight years, including wins over Arkansas and South Carolina, and has advanced to the final 32 each of the last three seasons.

·      Over the 2021 and 2022 baseball seasons, ODU was one of just 11 schools in the country and the only school in Virginia to have back to back 40+ win seasons.

·      ODU baseball has the 17^th best winning percentage in the country since 2021.

·      The baseball team won its first C-USA Championship, earned a No. 1 seed at the NCAA Regionals and received its highest final ranking in July 2021 of No. 16 in the Top-25 poll.

·      Nineteen baseball players have been drafted under current head coach Chris Finwood, who Selig hired in 2010.

Hampton Roads Community outreach and support has been a staple under Selig’s leadership:

·      Selig spearheaded the return of the annual Khedive Shriners’ Oyster Bowl game to Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium in 2011 and helped raise over $250,000 for the Shriners’ Children’s Burn Hospital since that time. 

·      In 2022-23, ODU student-athletes were ranked #9 in the country with 5,321 total community service hours in the NCAA TeamWorks Challenge for all Division 1 schools.

Selig spent 11 years directing the Western Kentucky University Hilltopper athletic program, which won 70 Sun Belt Conference Championships from 2000-2010 and a national record 19 crowns in two seasons, 2008-2010. He also led WKU from FCS to FBS and is the only AD in the country to lead two institutions in this transition.

Prior to his stint at WKU, Selig served as the Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Virginia from 1988-1999, overseeing external operations his last five years. He began his athletic career as the Director of Ticketing at VCU, where he served from 1985-1988, finishing his stint as Assistant to the Athletic director.

Selig was a four-year member (2006-2010) of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee and served as Chair of the Final Four site selection committee. He served as Chair for both the Sun Belt Conference Athletic Directors and the Men’s Basketball Committees during his tenure at WKU. He has served on the prestigious Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet representing the CAA and is currently on the Elizabeth River Trail Board of Directors and serves on the executive committee for the Norfolk Forum and was recently named the groups secretary. He is a two-time winner of the Tom Fergusson Metropolitan Person of the Year award by the Norfolk Sports Club (2014, 2023), symbolic of his impact on the region’s sports profile. 

Selig was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, where he attended Norfolk Collegiate School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington and Lee University, a master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Virginia, with a minor in business from the UVA Darden School of Business. His dissertation “The Study of Donor Predictability Among Alumni Athletes”, won the 2002 CASE Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation.

Selig and his wife Ellen of Annapolis, MD, have three children, Lex, 26, Nick, 24 and Julianna, 19.