Wright Waters has 36 years of experience in collegiate athletics and was named the Sun Belt Conference’s fourth commissioner on December 15, 1998. His tenure ranks second in longevity among the four men who have steered the conference during its 33-year history.

Waters has a simple formula to success when it comes to overseeing a Division I-A conference:

            1) Put people in the stands.

            2) Win non-conference games.

            3) Do things with class.

            Under Waters, the league has:

• Become a Bowl Championship Series conference, one of only 11 in the country.
• Achieved success both on the field and in the classroom.
• Expanded to sponsor 19 sports.
• Shifted geographically to become a more regional conference and build stronger rivalries while still competing at the highest level.
• Gained a permanent seat on the NCAA Board of Directors, giving the league a crucial voice on all of the important issues in Division I athletics.
• Achieved its most expansive television agreements in league history.
• Partnered with Jump TV, Inc. to deliver a full-service and premium web site.
• Reorganized the conference office structure.

The league has improved tremendously under Waters on and off the field. As a result of Waters’ leadership, the Sun Belt Conference began sponsoring football in 2001. Waters also helped found the New Orleans Bowl, where the Sun Belt’s annual champion plays a Conference USA opponent each year. North Texas defeated Cincinnati in the 2002 New Orleans Bowl to give the league its first post-season win, and the conference has sent multiple teams to postseason bowls three times in just eight years (2004: North Texas-New Orleans Bowl, Troy-Silicon Valley Bowl; 2006: Troy-New Orleans Bowl, Middle Tennessee-Motor City Bowl; 2008: Troy-New Orleans Bowl, Florida Atlantic-Motor City Bowl).  Since his arrival, a Sun Belt team has also reached both the baseball and softball College World Series, and men’s basketball had two teams reach the NCAA Tournament in 2008, with one team advancing to the “Sweet 16.”

The conference has also had significant academic achievements. Nearly every Sun Belt Conference school is graduating its student-athletes at a higher rate than the school’s student body.  Sun Belt schools combined to have 694 student-athletes land on the Commissioner’s List, which honors all student-athletes recording a 3.5 GPA or better during the 2007-08 academic year. The league also had a total of 809 student-athletes named to the Academic Honor Roll, which is awarded to those maintaining a 3.0-3.49 GPA.  The total of 1,503 athletes that were honored tops the previous high of 1,429 set during the 2006-07 school year.

He has been strongly involved in the development of a strategic plan - Vision 2010 - which is the Sun Belt Conference’s “blueprint of the future,” containing league goals and objectives as a conference. Waters is also a former executive vice-president of the CCA and has given the league a voice at the highest level of college athletics by serving on various committees. He has previously served on the NCAA Football Issues Committee, the NCAA Executive Committee, the NACDA Executive Committee, the Collegiate Commissioner’s Association Executive Committee, the NCAA Transition Management Council, the NCAA Division I Championship Committee, and the NACDA Sears Cup Committee.

During Waters’ tenure, the Sun Belt Conference has become stronger and more regional by adding Troy University, Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Louisiana-Monroe, the University of North Texas and Florida Atlantic University. The conference has also increased its sponsored sports in addition to football by adding three women’s sports (softball, soccer, swimming and diving) and men’s swimming and diving.

Under Waters’ direction the Sun Belt Conference has seen an ever-expanding television package.  Recently, the Sun Belt Conference and ESPN announced a new agreement that extends the network’s relationship with the conference through the 2011-12 academic year.  The agreement, which will take effect beginning in the 2009-10 academic year, will expand the conference’s national television exposure to unprecedented highs and was negotiated exclusively with ESPN, Inc.  Additionally, the league and its regional television partners Cox Sports Television (CST) and Comcast / Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) announced recently a comprehensive deal that will bring 45 Sun Belt Conference events to the airwaves beginning this fall.  The agreement between the three parties will results in the broadcasting of football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, volleyball, and softball contests throughout the upcoming year. 

The conference has helped host major events including the 2002 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships and the 2003 NCAA Final Four. The conference has also improved its annual championships by upgrading and enhancing playing facilities, social events and awards. Waters also oversaw the combining of the men’s and women’s basketball championships for the first time in league history. The change helped the tournament draw a league-record 44,778 fans in 2003.

Waters, who is in his 18th year as a conference commissioner, returned to collegiate administration after serving as general manager of Crimson Tide Sports Marketing in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He worked for 10 years at the Southern Conference, serving as the league’s commissioner for the final seven years. During that time, the league experienced unprecedented growth and development during his tenure. The Southern Conference also grew in terms of institutions and sports. He organized the expansion of the league twice during his tenure, expanding from eight to 12 institutions. In addition, the league grew from sponsoring 16 sports to 19. Prior to his commissioner’s stint, he served as the Southern Conference’s assistant commissioner for three years beginning in 1988. In that position, he was responsible for the development of a compliance and eligibility program for the league’s institutions and served as the conference’s liaison with the NCAA Departments of Legislative Services and Enforcement. He also served as the league’s Director of Championships.

He joined the Southern Conference after a four-year stint at Tulane University, where he served as Associate Athletic Director and later as the Interim Athletic Director. Waters has an extensive professional background in collegiate athletics dating back to 1976 when he served four years as an Administrative Assistant and Academic Director at Southern Mississippi. He was an Assistant Athletic Director at Florida from April 1979 to July 1983 and an Associate Athletic Director at Louisiana-Lafayette from July 1983 to December 1984. He began his career in athletics as the Head Trainer and Student Assistant Football Coach at Livingston from 1972-74. 

Waters graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, Ala., in 1967.  He attended Alabama and received a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Livingston University in 1974 and a master’s degree in secondary education from Livingston in 1975.

Waters was born June 22, 1949, in Montgomery, Ala., and is married to the former Sara Anderson of York, Ala. They have one daughter, Ashley.