Rick Mello
He entered Liberty in the fall of 1972 a shy and slight young man who loved and lived athletics. He played on the freshman football team in 1972 but was unable to continue in the sports program due to a medical problem. So he did the next big thing and became the varsity football program’s statistician and the varsity basketball program’s charter and statistician.
Mello was far more than a statistician for the basketball program. He would go on scouting trips with Coach Jerry Miller and help develop scouting reports and break down films. He also served as manager of the baseball team and kept stats for the baseball and track teams. He wrote for the Brentwood News and the Antioch Ledger newspapers, covering all Liberty athletic contests – a virtual director of information,
Mello credits two Liberty teachers for his success and improvement in writing: Oliver Bascom and Rita Pirtle. The ability to write successfully led him to and opened a whole new professional field.
Upon graduation from Liberty, Mello attended Los Medanos College, where her aided the football and basketball programs and wrote for the school newspaper. His efforts earned him a partial scholarship to Utah State University, where he studied journalism and financed his education as assistant sports information director. He graduated Cum Laude in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism and was selected the Most Outstanding Senior Journalism Student.
A summary of Mello’s achievements as an athletic administrator: 1980-81, director, Media Relations for Women’s Athletics, University of the Pacific; 1981-82, director, Media Relations for Women’s Athletics, UCLA; 1982-83, assistant executive director, Titan Athletic Foundation, CSU Fullerton; 1983-84, director, Media Relations, University of the Pacific; 1984-87, associate director, Athletic Media Relations, UC Berkeley; 1987-1990, director of football recruiting, UC Berkeley; 1990-92, assistant athletic director, Marketing and Corporate Development, UC Berkeley; 1992-95, associate athletic director, External Operations, University of Miami; 1995-2000, director of athletics, University of Arkansas, Little Rock; 2000-06, director of athletics, Florida International University; 2006-07, associate vice president, Athletics Financing Corporation, Florida International University; and since 2007, associate commissioner, Sports Administration and Championships, Sun Belt Conference.
Mello’s current post involves the supervision and management of the Sun Belt Conference sports administration division and 19 conference championships. He is directly responsible for competition scheduling for all sports, officiating, instant replay, video Internet exchange, event management, and serves as the primary liaison to the conference’s Directors of Athletics, all coaches groups, including football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, and the sports medicine directors.
In 2009, Mello was selected as an LUHSD Graduate of Distinction.
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