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Support Staff bios
STEVE
MIKE FLIPPEN MOBLEY
COMPLIANCE SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS
Steve Flippen was returned to the UGA Athletic Association staff on a full-time basis in October 2011.
Flippen, who served as a graduate assistant/intern for the UGA compliance office from 1999-01, has two decades of experience at five different Division I schools.
Prior to Athens, Flippen served as Associate Director of Compliance at Georgia Tech. He spent more than six years at Virginia, serving as Director of Compliance for two and a half years and as Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance for four more years.
From 2003-04, Flippen was Director of Compliance and Student-Athlete Services at Winthrop. That followed a two-year stint as Compliance Coordinator at Northern Illinois from 2001-03.
Flippen earned his bachelor’s in physical education and sports sciences with a specialization in Sports Administration from North Carolina in 1998 and his master’s in Sports Management from UGA in 2000.
A native of Virginia, Flippen moved several times throughout his childhood. He is the son of Bill Flippen, a successful high school football coach in Virginia and North Carolina. Steve and his wife, the former Catherine Horton, have two daughters, Evelyn and McKinsey.
Mike Mobley joined the Athletic Association staff in 1995 and was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director in 2021. His duties include managing communications for the men's basketball and women's golf programs, as well as assisting with football.
From 1995-2015, Mobley served as the SID for women's basketball. During his time as an undergraduate from 1985-89, he worked as the SID for both the track & field and volleyball programs.
Mobley currently serves as the sports information representative for all 14 league schools on the SEC Awards Committee, and he represented Georgia on the SEC's coordination of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Mobley also has worked four Olympics. He served as Venue Press Chief for the boxing competition in Atlanta in 1996. He has worked as an Information/ Liaison Manager for Olympic Broadcasting Services at the last three Games, doing so for weightlifting in 2012 and handball in 2016 and 2021.
A native of nearby Winder, Mobley received a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from UGA in 1989. He is married to the former Sallie Hartnett, and they have two children: Kevin, a 2020 UGA grad and former student assistant in the UGA Sports Communications office; and Caroline, a senior at Furman and assists with graphics for the Paladins' athletic programs.
JANA HEITMEYER
SPORTS NUTRITION
Jana Heitmeyer was named Director of Sports Nutrition at UGA in 2017 after serving in a similar capacity at Baylor from 2015-17.
Heitmeyer was a four-year gymnastics letterwinner at Kent State from 1999-2002. She also served as an intern in the strength and conditioning department for a year and a half and assisted with the volleyball, soccer, women’s basketball, gymnastics and golf programs.
Heitmeyer was as a graduate assistant for strength and conditioning at Missouri from 2004-06 before joining the staff full-time as assistant strength coach in 2006. She was named Missouri’s director of sports nutrition in 2007 and served in that role until moving to Baylor in 2015.
Heitmeyer is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She holds additional strength and conditioning certifications through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association.
Heitmeyer earned a bachelor’s in zoology/pre-med from Kent State in 2003. She received two degrees from Missouri, a master’s in health education and promotion in 2006 and a second bachelor’s in dietetics in 2011. Heitmeyer has two children, sons Gage and Zayden.
CHAD PALMER
TEAM PHYSICIAN
Dr. Chad Palmer, who returned to his alma mater and joined the University of Georgia Health Center staff in April 2014, serves as a team physician for UGA Athletics. Dr. Palmer is in his eighth as the team physician for Georgia Basketball and also works with the women’s soccer and baseball programs.
Dr. Palmer served as team physician for a number of colleges and high schools beginning July 2005. He completed a family medicine residency at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2008 and a sports medicine fellowship at the University of Washington in 2009. From 2009-14, he worked for Northeast Georgia Physicians Group and was a team physician for the Atlanta Falcons, the University of North Georgia and Chestatee High School. Dr. Palmer also has special expertise and 14 years of experience working with diabetes and has worked with various community youth groups since 2001.
A native of Elberton, Ga., Dr. Palmer graduated from Elbert County Comprehensive High School in 1997. During his time as undergraduate at UGA, he served as a manager for the Georgia Football program for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Dr. Palmer graduated from Georgia with a bachelor's degree in Biology in 2001 before attending Medical College of Georgia.
Dr. Palmer and his wife, the former Lindsey Ebel, have two sons – Wyatt and Chandler.
BRENTON CAROLYN SHIVER WALLACE
FAN ENGAGEMENT EVENT MANAGEMENT & FACILITIES
Brenton Shiver, who joined the Athletic Association staff on a full-time basis in 2007, was promoted to Director of Fan Engagement in 2015.
Shiver is in his fourth season coordinating efforts surrounding Georgia Basketball and also oversees gymnastics and golf.
During his time with the Bulldogs, Georgia has recorded two of the basketball program’s top-4 total attendance records tallies ever – No. 1 164,071 in 2019-20 and No. 4 132,557 in 2021-22. During the 2019-20 campaign, UGA averaged 9,651 fans per game at Stegeman Coliseum, the second-highest mark in program history, and also welcomed a school single-season record 11 crowds topping the 10,000 plateau.
Shiver began working in promotions as an undergraduate in 2004. After receiving his bachelor’s in Marketing from UGA in Dec. 2006, served as an intern beginning in Jan. 2007 before joining the staff full-time five months later in June.
In addition to his current responsibilities, Shiver worked with virtually every University of Georgia athletic program during his tenure as a student worker and full-time staffer with the Bulldogs.
Shiver, who earned a master’s in Sport Management from UGA in 2015, married his wife, Stephanie, in 2011.
Carolyn Wallace joined the UGA Athletic Association as Associate Director of Event Management in 2017. Wallace oversees event management for basketball and is facility manager for Stegeman Coliseum and its Training Facility.
Prior to arriving in Athens, Wallace served as event operations manager at Colorado State from 2015-16 where she oversaw gameday management of the women’s soccer, women’s basketball, track & field and women’s tennis programs. At Wake Forest from 2014-15, she was gameday manager and budget manager for women’s soccer, women’s tennis and track & field. She also was tournament manager for the first round of the 2014 Men’s Soccer NCAA Championship.
Wallace coordinated event management for four sports and various special events at Villanova from 2013-14 and was gameday manager for five sports at Hartford in 2012-13.
Wallace earned bachelor’s degrees from Randolph-Macon (business/ economics in 2010) and Eastern Connecticut State (sport and leisure management in 2011). She was an Academic All-America swimmer for both schools. Wallace earned her master’s in sport management from Springfield in 2013. Carolyn married Ben Wallace in July 2021.
SAMANTHA SPURLOCK
ACADEMIC COUNSELING
Samantha Spurlock joined the UGA Athletic Association staff as an academic counselor in January of 2020 to work with the men’s basketball and men’s and women’s cross country programs.
Spurlock arrived in Athens following stints at West Virginia and Marshall. She was an assistant director of student-athlete development at West Virginia from 2017-20, serving as academic advisor for the baseball, gymnastics and women’s tennis programs. From 2014-17, Spurlock was an academic advisor for at Marshall and served as advisor for all 14 of the Thundering Herd’s different Olympic sports during her tenure. She originally joined the Marshall staff as a graduate assistant for M Club & Big Green, the Herd’s Scholarship Foundation, from 2012-14.
Spurlock was a four-year letterwinner for the Thundering Herd softball team. She earned both NFCA Scholar-Athlete and C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll recognition. In 2012, Spurlock was named to the 2012 C-USA Championship All-Tournament Team. A native of Huntington, W. Va., she led Huntington High to back-to-back state titles in 2007 and 2008.
Spurlock earned a pair of degrees from Marshall, securing her bachelor’s in Business Administration and Marketing in 2012 her master’s in Sports Administration in 2014.
Wendy Whittington, who joined the UGA Athletic Association staff in 2008 as Assistant Ticket Manager, was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director of Ticket Operations in 2019.
Whittington’s responsibilities include managing donor priority for men’s basketball, coordinating football parking and overseeing the student ticketing process. She is also responsible for daily management of the UGA ticket office and daily ticket operations at athletic events.
From 2005-08, Whittington worked in the ticket office at Georgia Tech. During that time, she also worked as a member of the Atlanta Braves’ premium staff which oversaw the suites and club at Turner Field.
Whittington received an associate’s degree in business administration from Darton College in 2002, a bachelor’s in business administration with a focus in marketing from Georgia Southern in 2003 and a master’s in sport administration from Georgia State. She was a graduate assistant in the Georgia State compliance office from 2004-05.
A native of Moultrie, Ga., Whittington is an extremely proud 2000 graduate of Colquitt County High School. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Lady Packers in softball and was named the Class AAAA State Offensive Player of the Year as a senior.
