NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University Athletics Director Dr. Wood Selig will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Norfolk Sports Club at its annual Jamboree on June 18, the organization announced.
It is the third time in Selig’s career receiving an award from the Norfolk Sports Club, as he twice was named the Tom Fergusson Memorial Award Winner for Metropolitan Person of the Year in sport.
Under Selig’s leadership, there have been several firsts posted by Monarch athletics since Selig arrived in 2010. Men’s basketball achieved its first ever national AP top 25 ranking in 2014-15, baseball achieved its highest ever final season ranking of 16th in 2021 earning a number one seed in the NCAA tournament, football earned its highest FBS final ranking ever of 34th in 2025, and women’s tennis finished 27th nationally in 2022. Additionally, Selig hired Nikki McCray-Penson in 2017, ODU’s first female African American head coach in women’s basketball. He also helped launch women’s volleyball in 2020.
This past football season saw Ricky Rahne, who Selig hired in 2020, guide ODU to a 10-3 record and win the Cure Bowl. ODU in 2025 was one of just 25 FBS teams in the country to secure 10 or more wins. The Monarchs have played in a bowl game in three of the last five seasons.
ODU’s student-athlete academic success has set multiple GPA and Dean’s List records including another record this past fall with a cumulative student-athlete GPA of 3.35 while 243 student-athletes earned Dean’s List honors (3.4 GPA or higher) with 50 having a 4.0 GPA.
Selig has guided a $200 million athletic facility boom at ODU in the last 16 years. The upgrades are highlighted by football’s S.B. Ballard Stadium, one of the best, if not the best, venues in the Sun Belt Conference. Other world class facility enhancements include The Mitchum Basketball Performance Center for women’s and men’s basketball, the Ellmer Family Baseball Complex, a brand-new ODU Volleyball Center, and an expanded L.R. Hill complex to accommodate football’s move from FCS to FBS.
Selig has been a constant advocate for student-athlete welfare. ODU now offers a Student-Athlete Mental Health and Well-being Center with a dedicated mental health team to serve the needs of ODU student-athletes, one of the few athletic departments nationally to offer such support.
The Norfolk Sports Club Jamboree is set for Thursday, June 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Big Blue Room of Chartway Room. ODU Football Head Coach, Ricky Rahne, will receive the J. Roy Rodman award for Outstanding Coach in Virginia.