On Monday, February 28th at 10:00 am in the Ray Johnson Auditorium School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences Extension Building Alcorn State University (ASU) announced Raynoid Dedeaux as its new Director of Athletics.
Due to former Athletic Director Derek Horne abruptly resigning in October of 2021, the position was left vacant. Dr. Tracy Cook, Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management chaired the committee to find Horne’s replacement, which was Dedeaux, who was a 2002 graduate and former student-athlete at Alcorn.
Dedeaux possesses an extensive and professional career. He has served with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) since 2006 and in January of 2022 he was named Deputy Commissioner serving as the League’s #2 behind current Commissioner, Sonya Stills. According to Dr. Felecia Naves, President of ASU, “Dedeaux is a highly qualified professional with a plethora of experience managing sports operations. He also brings his expertise in strategic planning, corporate partnerships, revenue generation, budget management and negotiations.” In January 2021, he was elevated to Senior Associate Commissioner for Championships and Administration. Previously, Dedeaux has served the MEAC as Assistant Commissioner for Championships, Director of Championships, and Assistant Director of Championships and Compliance. He has supervised the MEAC’s football and Men’s basketball operations while also officiating programs for football, men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball. In addition, he served as the Conference’s liaison to the head coaches and Director of Athletics and he also was the overall manager of the Conference’s annual men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. As the MEAC’s liaison to several high profile corporate partners, Dedeaux has worked with Nike, ESPN, The National Football League, Russell Athletics, Spaulding and Coca-Cola.
Once introduced by Dr. Nave, Dedeaux expressed to the audience how pleased he was to be back on ‘The Reservation’ and ready to get to work. He stated, “There are five pillars of success to sustaining a great athletic program which are graduation, championships, student athlete’s well-being, integrity, and physical responsibility. I commit to all five of those. We’re going to compete within the Conference, we’re going to compete for national championships, and we’re going to graduate our student athletes.”
The press conference ended with a question and answer session from the audience and Dr. Nave then presenting Dedeaux with tokens of appreciation from the University.
