GUNNISON Colo.  Western Colorado Director of Athletics Miles Van Hee is excited to announce the hiring of Greg Hinze as the department's Deputy Director of Athletics.   

Hinze has worked at Sam Houston State since 2007 in different roles including Associate Director of Athletics/Operations, Senior Associate Director of Athletics and most recently served as the Deputy Director of Athletics.   

"We are very fortunate to add Greg Hinze to our staff as he brings a wealth of knowledge to our department as a seasoned veteran administrator/coach, with over 30 years of Collegiate experience. Greg's past administrative experience at Sam Houston State and Blinn College along with past coaching experience with Coach of the Year honors will be a huge asset to our department. We look forward to Greg, Katheryne, Reagan and Sydney joining the Mountaineer team and University/Gunnison community.," said Van Hee.   

In his previous role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the SHSU athletic department and was instrumental in the Bearkats transition from national FCS power to a FBS member of Conference USA. He has also been an event manager for several of the Southland conference's championships and tournaments.   

"I want to thank Dr. Baca and Miles Van Hee for the opportunity. My wife Katheryne and I are excited to get to Gunnison and immerse ourselves in the culture of the area," Said Hinze.  

"Wen I saw this opening, I was immediately intrigued by it because of the rich history, tradition and culture that is already here, and all those things were only reinforced when I came on my interview. However, I also think new ideas and fresh perspectives are good for any organization, so I hope to be able to bring some of those to the table to help Elevate Western."    

Before joining Sam Houston's administration team, Hinze worked as the Athletic Director at Blinn College. He also has experience in coaching as he started his career at Stephen F. Austin State University as an Assistant Track and Field coach before later taking the same position at his alma mater of Texas A&M University, where he earned Southwest conference coach of the year honors.  After coaching the Aggies for five years, he landed his first head coaching job at SHSU, and two Southland coach of the year accolades followed. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from TAMU then went on to get his Master of Education at Stephen F. Austin State University.   

Hinze began his role of Deputy Director of Athletic on Monday, Oct. 2.