Conference Carolinas Announces Promotion of Brian Hand to Associate Commissioner for External Relations
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Conference Carolinas Commissioner Chris Colvin has announced the promotion of Brian Hand to Associate Commissioner for External Relations.
"Brian Hand has displayed phenomenal leadership and an unmatched work ethic over the last four years as Assistant Commissioner,” said Conference Carolinas Commissioner Chris Colvin. “I am excited to promote him to the position of Associate Commissioner as he continues to oversee the external relations strategy of Conference Carolinas and promote the conference’s commitment to building champions in body, mind and soul.”
Hand serves as the external relations contact for the conference office while also collaborating daily with Assistant Commissioner for Communications Zachary Shore. Hand also works with Commissioner Colvin to help generate sponsorships for Conference Carolinas.
Conference Carolinas external relations has worked with Commissioner Colvin to develop an updated and comprehensive Corporate Partners program that has resulted in over $100,000 in new revenue annually. This includes a three-year partnership signed during the 2022-23 academic year with the Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company to be the official sponsor of the Conference Carolinas Basketball and Spirit Championships. You can learn more about all of Conference Carolinas' Corporate Partners at ConferenceCarolinas.com/CorporatePartners.
Hand works closely with the entire Conference Carolinas office on championships, while also serving as the primary championships director for men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer and softball. In addition, Hand supervises Conference Carolinas' efforts with its esports championships.
As part of his role, Hand works closely with the Game Operations Committee, the External Relations Committee and partners with Shore on the Athletic Communications Committee. He helps to oversee the video streaming initiatives for the conference through the Conference Carolinas Digital Network. Hand is in charge of branding and logo enforcement for Conference Carolinas and he is the primary editor and administrator for ConferenceCarolinas.com.
The Conference Carolinas external relations office has worked to fully enhance the social media presence for the league office. Conference Carolinas has the highest Instagram increase (over 8,000) among all NCAA Division II conferences since the start of the 2019-20 academic year. In addition, Conference Carolinas has the most followers among non-football playing conferences on Instagram and the fifth-most overall among the 23 conferences. Conference Carolinas has also grown the second-most during the time period in Twitter followers (almost 4,000).
ConferenceCarolinas.com has also doubled its unique viewers to the official website of the conference over the last four academic years with the website averaging approximately one million unique views per year.
Conference Carolinas external relations has also worked to create special “Body, Mind, and Soul” written pieces that highlight student-athletes, coaches and administrators in Conference Carolinas. The features have enhanced the Conference Carolinas brand on the local, regional and national level with the NCAA showcasing numerous times. Sports Illustrated also highlighted one of the features as one of its daily cover stories in the 2019-20 academic year.
Conference Carolinas was named “Best in the District” in College Sports Communicators' Fred Stabley Jr. Writing Contest in the 2020-21 academic year. Conference Carolinas was the only NCAA Division II winner (all six other categories were won by NCAA Division I institutions) in District 3. NCAA Division II awarded Conference Carolinas a grant based on its strategic positioning as a conference in promoting its student-athletes, coaches and administrators through its “Body, Mind, and Soul” feature series in the fall of 2021.
During the 2021-22 academic year, Conference Carolinas’ “Body, Mind, and Soul" feature series was named the national runner-up in one category and was also honored with “Best in the District” honors in CSC's annual Fred Stabley Jr. Writing Contest. Conference Carolinas was awarded the honor for national runner-up for a feature on King 1,000-point scorer and NASA intern Trinity Lee. The special feature was tabbed national runner-up in the “Social Justice/Diversity & Inclusion” category. In addition to earning national runner-up accolades, the story on Lee was also honored with “Best in the District” honors. Two more stories also received runner-up honors for “Best in the District” in a feature on Emmanuel swimming All-American Natalie Hayes in the “Athlete Profile” category and a special feature on Commissioner Colvin in the “Coach/Administrator Profile” category.
Conference Carolinas also captured “Best in the Nation” honors for its conference media guide for the 2021-22 academic year in the CSC Publications and Digital Design Contest. The digital publication placed “Best in the Nation” in the college division of the contest. In addition, the publication entitled, “This is Conference Carolinas,” also earned top honors in the conference college division for cover design. Conference Carolinas also placed “Second in the Nation” among all in the college division (school and conferences) in the postseason media guides category.
During his first year with Conference Carolinas, Hand worked with the Conference Carolinas athletic communicators to fully overhaul, and in some cases, create record books for all of Conference Carolinas’ sports. In addition, a comprehensive record book dating back to the start of the conference was created.
Hand originally joined the Conference Carolinas league office after almost three years as the Assistant Athletic Director for External Relations at UNC Asheville.
A native of the Upstate of South Carolina, Hand returned home to Greenville, South Carolina after overseeing the marketing and fan engagement, communication and ticketing offices at UNC Asheville. He was also the sports supervisor for baseball.
Prior to joining the UNC Asheville athletics department, Hand for four years was the Executive Editor of Spurs & Feathers, which was the official publication of the University of South Carolina Gamecock Club. While at South Carolina, he worked closely with the external communications and development offices.
Hand also served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Communications and Promotions at USC Aiken for five years and as the Director of Sports Information and Game Operations at Presbyterian College for two and a half years. He began his career in college athletics as an intern at the SoCon league office in Spartanburg, South Carolina after interning in graduate school with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.
A North Greenville University (B.A.) and Middle Tennessee State University (M.S.) graduate, Hand played collegiate soccer at North Greenville where he was named to the 2001 National Christian Colleges Athletic Association Honorable-Mention All-America squad and the all-region team. He was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year at North Greenville.
Hand is married to the former Amy Prater, who is also a native of the Upstate of South Carolina. Brian and Amy are the proud parents of Alexander (14), a freshman at Wade Hampton High School in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brynlee (9), a third grader at Lake Forest Elementary School.