Jon Fagg is in his third year as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at UTA, officially beginning his tenure with the Mavericks on Aug. 1, 2022.
In the 2023-24 year, UTA continued its ascent in becoming a championship program with several notable milestones during the year. Overall, UTA teams improved from ninth to fourth in the Western Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup standings as the best overall program in the WAC. Under head coach Diego Benitez, men's tennis repeated as both WAC regular season and tournament champions in earning its second straight NCAA Tournament berth. It was one of seven top-four regular season finishes for athletics last season (women's indoor track - second; men's indoor track - tied for second; men's basketball - third; men's cross country, volleyball, men's outdoor track - each fourth).
Both UTA basketball programs had impressive performances in WAC postseason play. First-year head coach and former Maverick student-athlete K.T. Turner led the men's program to a 20-win season for the first time since 2018 and to the WAC Championship game for the first time since 2019. Women's basketball head coach Shereka Wright led the Lady Mavs to their third winning season in four years and to the conference semifinals for the second time in three years.
UTA men's tennis was one of several teams to compete in national postseason play. Volleyball earned an invitation to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), advancing to the round of 16. Both the UTA women's and men's cross country and outdoor track teams advanced to NCAA regionals, with three student-athletes (Matro Jepkemboi - women's cross country / NCAA Academic All America; Lucas Van Klaveren - decathlon / NCAA 1st Team All-America; Randon Gray - pole vault / NCAA 2nd-Team All-America) competing in national championship events.
2023-24 UTA Athletics Annual Report
Academics continued to thrive, as UTA student-athletes earned a 3.05 GPA for the 2023-24 year as the department has now posted 21 consecutive semesters with at least a 3.0 GPA.
UTA Athletics had the highest giving year in athletics history, highlighted by a nearly 100 percent increase in total dollars raised, including a 40% increase in giving to the Maverick Club. Overall, the department received its largest gift ever, and the most 25K gifts in a single year.
During Fagg's first year as athletics director, UTA won three Western Athletic Conference championships: men's tennis (tournament), men's tennis (regular season) and women's tennis (regular season). In total, 19 Mavs received WAC all-conference honors, including four player/coach of the year selections.
In the classroom, UTA student-athletes posted a combined 3.01 GPA in 2022-23 – extending the department’s streak to 19-consecutive semesters of a 3.0 or better GPA. As part of that academic success were 86 Mavs being named Academic All-WAC honorees during the year. Those student-athletes once again gave back to the Arlington and surrounding communities in 2022-23 as they volunteered at 22 events totaling more than 1,200 hours, and donated 6,500 canned food items throughout the year.
In an effort to keep up with the ever-changing Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) landscape within intercollegiate athletics, UTA Athletics partnered with Opendorse to establish an official NIL marketplace: MAKIN' BUCKS. UTA also entered into a group licensing agreement with The Brandr Group (TBG) to enable student-athletes to profit using the school’s official trademarks and logos on merchandise such as jerseys and t-shirts purchased by supporters.
For the 14 years prior to joining UTA, Fagg served in various positions at Arkansas, culminating as its Deputy Athletics Director. With the Razorbacks, Fagg assisted the Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics in the daily administration of the department and provided direct oversight of its NCAA compliance program; academic support; student-athlete development; and Name, Image and Likeness units. He also oversaw other administrative units, including mental health and performance, strength and conditioning, sports nutrition and major gift development. He most recently served as the sports administrator for the football and swimming and diving programs and had oversight of the women's soccer and men's basketball programs.
During his time in Fayetteville, Fagg was an instrumental team member of the University's capital campaign, Campaign Arkansas, which raised approximately $220 million for the Department of Athletics through annual and philanthropic giving to enhance the Arkansas student-athlete experience. From the conclusion of the campaign in the summer of 2020 through the spring of 2022, the Razorbacks claimed an impressive 18 Southeastern Conference Championships – 10 in 2020-21 and eight more in 2021-22 – almost double any other SEC member.
During the 2021-22 academic year, Arkansas was one of only three schools in the nation to have NCAA Tournament appearances or make a bowl game in football, men's and women's basketball, gymnastics, softball and baseball. Fagg was instrumental in the hiring of current Arkansas men's basketball coach Eric Musselman, who guided the Razorbacks to their second straight Elite Eight trip in 2022.
Beyond athletic competitions, Fagg oversaw Arkansas student-athletes collectively earning at least a 3.0 GPA for 25 straight semesters, and 16 consecutive semesters of at least a 3.2 – including in spring of 2022 (3.25). Those student-athletes helped the Razorbacks achieve a school-record 85% Graduation Success Rate, which increased 15 percent during Fagg's time at Arkansas.
Prior to joining Arkansas in 2008, Fagg spent seven years at North Carolina State, first as an Assistant Athletics Director and then as Associate Athletics Director. He also spent three years as Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance at Fresno State and a year as Director of Compliance for the Big South Conference.
His first athletics administrative experience came at Mars Hill College where he handled compliance duties in addition to serving as an assistant coach for the football team for three seasons. His coaching experience also includes a stint as an assistant coach at Davidson from February 1992 to June 1993 and as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Arizona, from January 1991 to February 1992.
Fagg and his wife, Amanda, have three children: Jon Madison and twins, Reed and Ellie.
