John Bateman & Darrice Griffin bios

JOHN BATEMAN

ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR – MARKETING MEN’S BASKETBALL SPORT ADMINISTRATOR

John Bateman, who with his combined experiences as a UGA student and full-time employee has been a member of the Athletic Association staff for more than three decades, was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing in the summer of 2014 after serving eight years as Director of Marketing.

In addition to being the sport facilitator for men’s basketball, Bateman is responsible for coordinating ticket sales plans, venue concessions and merchandise contracts, marketing and promotional activities on georgiadogs.com and gameday print operations. He is also the liaison between the Athletic Association and the Redcoat Marching Band and all other athletic bands.

Bateman joined the Georgia promotions office on a full-time basis in 1994 and served as Assistant Director for three years. He was promoted to Associate Director in 1997 before being named the Director in 2004. Bateman was promoted once again in 2014 to Assistant Athletic Director, and he also received oversight as the sport administrator for the men’s basketball program at that time.

Bateman is a “double-dog” with two degrees from University of Georgia – a bachelor’s in Business Administration in 1991 and master’s Sport Management in 1993. As an undergraduate, he served as a manager for the men’s basketball team, including UGA’s 1990 SEC Championship squad. The Bulldogs reached postseason play during three of Bateman’s four years with the team, including the 1987 and 2000 NCAA Tournaments and the 1988 NIT.

Bateman began his professional career by working as the championships and officiating assistant at the Southeastern Conference from 199394 before returning to his alma mater in 1994.

A native of Albany, Ga., Bateman is married to the former Jill Sirmans, a native of Valdosta, Ga. He is a huge fans of the Atlanta Braves and an avid walker/runner who has run the last 15 editions of the Peachtree Road Race.

DARRICE GRIFFIN

SENIOR DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS MEN’S BASKETBALL SPORT ADMINISTRATOR

Darrice Griffin was named Senior Deputy Director of Athletics on January 1, 2021, after serving as Deputy Director of Athletics of Administration at UGA since December 2017. Griffin’s responsibilities have included the day-to-day oversight responsibilities for some internal operations including Human Resources and strategic organizational advancement of the Athletics Association. She also serves as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator and Sports Facilitator for several sports programs. In addition, Griffin represents the Athletics Association within various SEC and institutional leadership groups.

Griffin previously served as a senior member of the athletic administration at the University of Massachusetts from 2015-17. She served as Deputy Director of Athletics from July 2017-December 2017, after holding the position of Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Operations for two years. Additionally, Griffin was also the department’s Senior Woman Administrator during her entire tenure in Amherst.

As Deputy Director at UMass she oversaw day-to-day operations relating to student-athletes, facilities and competitions, while also serving on numerous campus committees and as the liaison with many campus constituents. Griffin had administrative oversight responsibilities for a number of Minutemen sports, including football, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, field hockey and softball.

Prior to Amherst, Griffin spent the previous six years (2009-2015) at Columbia University, including the last four as Associate Athletics Director for Intercollegiate Sports Programs. With the Lions, Griffin had oversight for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, softball and baseball. She worked alongside the offices of admissions and financial aid, while also assisting in fundraising and development initiatives for both the athletic department at-large and her assigned sport programs. Griffin played a role in several student-athlete initiatives, including Columbia’s The First-Year Transition Program and The Leaders for Life Program. Within the University itself, Griffin was an active member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Sexual Assault, had a leadership role on the University Bystander Intervention Task Force and played a key role in the University-wide initiative Step-Up.

A native of Seagraves, Texas, Griffin was a standout basketball student-athlete at Texas Tech, graduating in 2007 with cum laude honors in Psychology. She was a four-time recipient of the Texas Tech Student-Athlete Merit Award, a two-time Academic All-Big 12 Conference honoree and was named an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar in 2007. Griffin comes from an elite basketball family. Her mother, Tami Wilson, played at Texas Tech from 199092 and her sister, Teddy, also played for the Lady Raiders from 2005-08. Griffin was the 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas and also was an All-Texas First-Team selection and a McDonald’s All-American.