Sandy Atkins - Special Assistant to the Athletics Director - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Sandy Atkins

Title:
Special Assistant to the Athletics Director
Email:
Phone:
5745

Sandy Atkins has a long history at Troy University as a student-athlete and administrator.  She joined the Troy staff in 2001 and currently serves as the Deputy Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). As a member of the department’s executive leadership team, Atkins assists with the day-to-day administration of the department which includes direct oversight of several sports as well as oversight in the areas of student-athlete welfare, academics and compliance.  She also is responsible for budget management, personnel administration and strategic planning.

Atkins joined the Troy Athletics Department as its Director of Compliance in Dec. 2001, and was named Senior Woman Administrator in 2003. She was promoted to Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance in 2004, and later promoted to the Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Affairs in 2007. Atkins received her current title of Deputy Director of Athletics in the fall of 2019 and was named the interim Athletics Director in the summer of 2015 after the departure of John Hartwell and again in the summer of 2019 following the departure of Jeremy McClain.

A native of Sweet Water, Ala., and a 1995 graduate of Troy with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, Atkins returned to her alma mater following a two-year stay as Assistant Director of Compliance at the Southeastern Conference office in Birmingham.

At Troy, Atkins oversees the internal workings of the 16-sport program. She is directly responsible for thirteen of the department’s sports programs, the support staff, oversees the business office, compliance and academic as well as the student-athlete well being areas.

Her other responsibilities include: working with head coaches in all programs to coordinate scheduling; coordinating the development and monitoring of budgets for all sports and the overall athletics department budget; assisting in the formulation, implementation and enforcement of departmental policies; strategic planning for the athletics department; and serving as the second in command for all athletics department affairs.

On a national level, Atkins currently serves as the chair of the NCAA Division I Softball committee and has previously served as a member of the NCAA Division I Amateurism Cabinet.  She also serves on various committees at the Conference and University level.

Atkins transferred to Troy prior to her junior season after playing two years at Shelton State Community College, where she was an All-American, and stepped into a brave new world of Division I athletics. Atkins’ first season with the Trojans just happened to be Troy’s first at the Division I level.

While a student-athlete at Troy, Atkins played two seasons on the Trojans softball team, earning All-Conference honors both years.  She went on to rank 18th in the NCAA with 31 stolen bases and led Troy with 44 runs scored during her first season with the Trojans. But it was Atkins’ senior year where her true talent shone through.  As a senior, Atkins set the Troy single-season records for hits (85) and runs scored (54), while posting the second-most stolen bases (36) and fifth-best batting average (.373). Atkins finished the year ranked ninth in the country with her 36 stolen bases.

Atkins’ career numbers still hold the test of time as she still ranks first in school history with a .359 career batting average, while her .419 on-base percentage and 69 stolen bases are the fifth most in school history.

In 2016, Atkins was inducted into the Troy University Hall of Fame.  She is also a member of the Marengo County Hall of Fame.