INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA announced 45 finalists from Division II conferences for the division's 50th Anniversary Gold Award, with current commissioner Jim Naumovich and former University of Indianapolis administrator Dr. Sue Willey selected to represent the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) for the prestigious award.
This award, which is part of the division's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration that launched Aug. 7 and will extend through the 2024 Division II Baseball Championship in June, will recognize two individuals (one individual who identifies as male and one who identifies as female) who have made a positive impact in Division II.
GLVC administrators casted votes to select the Conference's two honorees (one who identifies as male and one who identifies as female). The NCAA Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee will review these finalists and select the two overall winners, who will be recognized at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix.
See the link above for the complete list of nominees and below for more information on the GLVC's finalists.
Male Finalist
Jim Naumovich, Current Conference Commissioner
Naumovich enters his 23rd year as GLVC Commissioner in 2023-24, the second-longest tenure among current Division II commissioners. Under his watch, the Conference has added eight new sports: football, men's & women's swimming and diving, wrestling, men's and women's lacrosse, women's bowling, and men's volleyball (2025-26). Additionally, the league has added 12 new members: Drury, Rockhurst, Missouri S&T, Maryville, Illinois Springfield, William Jewell, McKendree, Truman State, Southwest Baptist, Lindenwood, Upper Iowa, and Lincoln-Missouri (2024-25).
Naumovich has expanded staffing in the Conference office with the hiring of four full-time staff members and secured funding to add two full-time interns. He has overseen the creation of the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN), the first digital platform of its kind at the Division II level, developed the league's Core Values & Mission Statement, completed a five-year strategic plan, and moved the GLVC Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball Championships to neutral sites. In addition, he is responsible for organizing the inaugural Midwest Region Crossover Volleyball Tournament in 2008, which was the first, and currently largest, NCAA intra-regional volleyball tournament in the country. Moreover, Naumovich worked closely with the G-MAC commissioner to partner with the city of Hammond, Indiana, and the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority to form the America's Crossroads Bowl, the fifth bowl game played at the Division II level.
Naumovich currently serves as chair of the Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and is a member of the NCAA Officiating Review Steering Committee. He is a former member of the Division II Management Council and chairman of the Division II Convention Planning & Project Team. He was also Vice Chair of the Academic Requirements Committee, a member of the Path to Graduation Task Force, and a member of the Division II Diversity & Inclusion Task Force. A former executive mentor for the NCAA Pathways
Program, Naumovich also served as an external mentor for the NCAA Internship Program, as well as a panelist for the NCAA Career in Sports Forum.
Additionally, Naumovich is a former member of the Division II Championships Committee and Regionalization Task Force. He completed a two-year term as President of the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) in 2008 and served an additional one-year term during the 2009-10 academic year. He has served as a member of the Indianapolis Local Organizing Committee for the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final Four, was the Co-Chair of the Evansville Local Organizing Committee for the 2002 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball
Championship, and is a former member of the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer National Committee. He currently serves as the Tournament Director for the Men's Basketball Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind.
Prior to his appointment as GLVC Commissioner, Naumovich worked at Quincy University for 15 years, in various administrative capacities, including Director of Athletics from 1992-2000. In addition to all his responsibilities in Division II, Naumovich serves as the Chair of the Baxter YMCA Board of Directors near his home in Greenwood, Ind.
Female Finalist
Dr. Sue Willey, Former Administrator
Dr. Willey earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from the University of Indianapolis in 1975. In 1977, Willey went on to earn her Master of Science in Physical Education Teaching and Coaching from Indiana University. In 1992 she earned her doctorate in Sports Administration and Higher Education from IU. She was an associate professor of health and physical education at UIndy and has taught in the Department of Kinesiology for nearly three decades, with a special teaching interest in sport ethics.
A 1993 inductee into the UIndy Athletics Hall of Fame, Dr. Willey earned an incredible 19 letters and 11 MVP awards in her four-year career. She was the "Female Athlete of the Year" from 1972-75. She began her coaching career at her alma mater after graduating cum laude from UIndy in 1975. The versatile Willey coached for 23 years at UIndy, directing 43 different teams in five sports. She was the GLVC Softball Coach of the Year in 1989, and her softball teams earned national academic honors in 1996 and 1997.
From 2002-06, Dr. Willey served on the highest NCAA Committee available to athletics administrators, the NCAA Division II Management Council, and served as chair of the Council in 2004. Her Management Council assignments included the DII Budget and Finance Committee, Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee, Management Council Identity Subcommittee, Championships Regionalization Task Force, Project Team to Review Issues Related to Diversity, and the Championships Eligibility Project Team.
Dr. Willey was selected as the 2005 Division II Administrator of the Year by Women Leaders in College Sports, formerly the National Association of Collegiate Woman Athletic Administrators. She was also selected as the 2004 Pathfinder Award winner, presented in recognition of her strong commitment to provide quality sports and leadership opportunities for girls and women in the state of Indiana. Willey served a four-year (2006-10) term on both the Women Leaders in College Sports Executive Board and the DII Nominating Committee and served a four-year stint on the NCAA Division II Membership Committee. In addition, from 2016-20 she was a part of the NCAA DII Championships Committee, including serving as chair of the committee from 2019-20. She is also a graduate of the Women Leaders in College Sports Institute for Athletic Executives. Willey was named 2009-10 and 2012-13 Under Armour Division II Athletics Director of the Year.
Dr. Willey has proudly forged a path for women in athletics from the moment she was hired in 1975. Seeing firsthand how the roles of women have changed in the industry during her career, she has remained at the forefront of the fight for equal opportunity in sports. She broke barriers when she became the University's first female director of athletics and one of the first women to be a member of the President's Cabinet. Willey established UIndy as one of the top overall athletics programs in Division II. In her tenure, the Greyhounds became regular qualifiers for the NCAA postseason play and a consistent threat for conference, regional and national championships.