INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Apr. 7, 2023) – Saint Peter’s University Director of Athletics Rachelle Paul has been named to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee as announced by the NCAA today. Paul becomes the first administrator in the 42-year history of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) to be appointed to the committee. Her five-year term will run from September 2023 through August 2028.
 
“It is my distinct honor and privilege to be the first representative from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to serve on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee,” said Paul. “I am deeply humbled by this appointment and I am grateful to Dan Gavitt and the NCAA staff for providing me this exceptional opportunity. The game of basketball has served as a cornerstone of my professional career and I look forward to working with many esteemed colleagues to ensure we continue to grow the game and to preserve the success of the greatest event in all of sports.”
 
Named as the 2022 Women Leaders in College Sports NCAA Division I Nike Executive of the Year, Paul is in her fourth year as Director of Athletics at Saint Peter's after being named as the 10th Director of Athletics in school history on Oct. 30, 2019. In just four years at the helm of Saint Peter's, the university has had immense success under her leadership of the athletic department, headlined by the Peacocks’ men’s basketball team’s unprecedented run to the Elite Eight in 2022.
 
Paul oversaw the remarkable run of the men's basketball team during the 2022 NCAA Basketball Championship, which produced the Peacocks’ Cinderella run to the Elite Eight. Saint Peter’s became the first No. 15 seeded institution in NCAA Tournament history and first MAAC team in league history to advance to the regional final after knocking off national powerhouses No. 2 Kentucky, No. 7 Murray State and No. 3 Purdue. In addition to the NCAA success, since Paul took over as AD at Saint Peter’s in 2019-20, the men’s basketball program has won a MAAC Tournament title, has advanced to at least the conference semifinals in all four seasons, and has finished in the top-three during the regular season in three out of four years. The women’s basketball team has also displayed success during Paul’s time, making a run to the MAAC Championship final in 2021, the first trip to the title game for the program in 20 years. Moreover, Paul spearheaded the renovation of "Run Baby Run Arena," Saint Peter’s home venue for men's and women's basketball and women’s volleyball, which unveiled at the beginning of 2021-22. As an athletic department, Saint Peter's finished in third place among all MAAC institutions in the Learfield Director's Cup standings at the conclusion of 2021-22 and Saint Peter's witnessed one the program's best athletic seasons in nearly 30 years during 2019-20, placing second in the MAAC Pepsi Zero Commissioner's Cup Men's Standings. The runner-up finish was the department's second highest outcome in program history behind a first place finish on the men's side in 1993-94 and it was just the seventh top-five placement in the men's circuit since the league began tracking individual men's and women's standings in 1984.
 
Off the court, Saint Peter’s has displayed success in the classroom under Paul’s guidance, having tied the single-year Graduate Success Rate (GSR) twice following the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years with 95 percent of student-athletes from the 2013-14 and 2014-15 cohorts achieving graduation. A total of 444 student-athletes from Saint Peter’s have been named to the MAAC Academic Honor Roll during Paul’s three completed academic years, with a program-record, 161 student-athletes selected to the 2019-20 Honor Roll.
 
“It's appropriate for Rachelle Paul to be the MAAC's first ever representative on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee given her success as an administrator and the leadership she provided that led her men's program to the 2022 Elite Eight Round of the national championship,” noted MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor. “Breaking through the glass ceiling is nothing new for Rachelle as an athlete and administrator. She will represent the MAAC and other mid major leagues well.”
 
 About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 42nd year of competition during the 2022-23 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan College, Marist College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
 
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