South Dakota State University Athletics

Justin Sell, who was honored as the 2014-15 Under Armour National Athletics Director of the Year, has moved Jackrabbit Athletics forward in a number of areas in its Division I pursuits since being introduced as the 12th director of athletics at South Dakota State on May 7, 2009. 
 
Sell oversees the Jackrabbits’ 19-sport Division I athletics program. Sixteen SDSU teams compete in the Summit League, while football is a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Football Championship Subdivision and wrestling competes as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Equestrian competes under the umbrella of the National Collegiate Equestrian Association and ECAC.
 
Under his leadership, South Dakota State continues to make strides in athletic competition, in the classroom, in fundraising, and in reconnecting with alumni. He was awarded a five-year contract extension that runs through the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
 
Athletically, the Jackrabbits have claimed 62 regular season and postseason league championships in 10 different sports since 2009-10. That broad-based success had led SDSU to claim the Summit League Commissioner’s Cup all-sports trophy seven times (2010-11, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2020-21, 2021-22), along with winning both the Summit League’s Dr. William Steinbrecher Men’s All-Sports Award and Dr. Helen Smiley Women’s All-Sports Award during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. SDSU also claimed the Steinbrecher award during the 2012-13, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, and was the recipient of the league’s Sportsmanship Award — voted on by league peers — in 2010-11.
 
Nationally, 36 teams have made NCAA tournament appearances during Sell's tenure with one individual national champion in wrestling. Additionally, 61 student-athletes have earned All-America honors, 39 Academic All-America honors and nine NCAA postgraduate scholarships. SDSU is the only NCAA Division I member that can claim it has made the postseason seven consecutive years in men's and women's basketball and football.
 
ESPN brought its College Gameday show to South Dakota State during the 2019 football season, showcasing the annual Dakota Marker Game on October 26. The premier college football pre-game show cast a national spotlight on South Dakota State with more than 1.7 million viewers, hosting the broadcast on the historic College Green near the Coughlin Campanile. SDSU was the first Football Championship Subdivision program to host GameDay since 2017, and through a study conducted by the Brookings Economic Development Corporation, saw more than 13,000 people attend the live show. 
 
In the classroom, SDSU student-athletes have regularly posted a grade-point average of 3.2 or higher in more than 70 different majors, which led SDSU to win The Summit League’s Institutional Academic Achievement Award for the 2009-10 and 2012-13 academic years, and the Missouri Valley Football Conference Academic Award in nine consecutive years (2008-16). Numerous other teams and student-athletes have received academic honors.
 
In 2011, Sell announced a 10-year, $13 million partnership with Learfield IMG College. The deal was renegotiated in 2017 with an extension through 2031, enhancing the overall value of the agreement. Learfield IMG College directs all aspects of the partnership, including managing and selling multimedia and sponsorship rights.
 
Additionally, Sell directed the implementation of the Letterwinners Club, which provides opportunities for Jackrabbit Athletics to reconnect and stay connected with former student-athletes while supporting current student-athletes at SDSU.
 
Sell also has implemented other aggressive marketing and fundraising initiatives which have resulted in record average attendance for football during the 2008 and 2016 seasons, as well as the highest number of donors and dollars donated to the Jackrabbit Club. Ticket sales totaled more than $1 million for the first time during the 2011-12 season and have steadily grown to more than $4 million annually. 
 
In addition, the Jackrabbit Athletic Scholarship Auction has raised over $1 million and set new records over each of the past six years. The 2020 Jackrabbit Athletic Scholarship Auction provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Sell and Jackrabbit fans, as the event was held virtually in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 event became an interactive online experience and raised $1.737 million, with proceeds benefiting Feeding South Dakota, high-need scholarships at South Dakota State and student-athlete scholarships. After returning to a stand-alone event, the 2022 auction raised a record-$1.59 million.
 
On the facilities front, Sell has overseen dramatic upgrades and expansion of competition and practice venues through the development and implementation of the 2025 SDSU Athletic Facilities Master Plan. The Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center was completed in 2010, and Sell spearheaded efforts to add permanent seating and a press box at Erv Huether Field, as well as other recent improvements to the home of Jackrabbit baseball.
 
Construction of the $65 million Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, which serves as the home of Jackrabbit football, was completed in fall 2016.

Two years prior, construction of the $32 million Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex was finished in the fall of 2014. That facility, which serves as a competition venue for indoor track and field and as a practice facility for football and a number of other outdoor sports, contains one of only a handful of 300-meter indoor tracks in the country, as well as expanded facilities for sports medicine and strength and conditioning. The SJAC also features batting cages for baseball and softball and a 3,500-square foot training area for golf, nicknamed The Biddy.
 
Sell led the charge for a 31,000-square foot, two-gym practice facility to the South of Frost Arena in 2018, creating additional practice space for basketball and volleyball. Each gym houses one main collegiate-sized basketball court, two high school-sized cross courts, eight baskets, and two volleyball practice courts. The practice gyms were phase one of a planned multi-phase renovation of Frost Arena facilities.

The second phase of the Frost Arena project was launched in the fall of 2021 with the announcement of a $20 million lead gift from Brookings-based First Bank & Trust which includes naming rights upon completion of arena renovations in 2023. Total cost of the First Bank & Trust Arena project is estimated at $50 million.

Also in the fall of 2021, ground was broken on the Frank J. Kurtenbach Family Wrestling Center, which will be attached to the Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center and Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Completion of the training facility is set for during the 2022-23 academic year.
 
In the fall of 2014, Sell was appointed by the NCAA Board of Directors to represent The Summit League and Missouri Valley Football Conference on the newly formed Division I Council. He served as chair the Student-Athlete Experience Committee and also has served as a member of the Council Coordination Committee and as a liaison to the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Sell previously chaired the Division I Transfer Working Group and Full Cost of Attendance in Equivalency Sports Committee.
 
Within the Brookings community, Sell has served as chair of the Brookings Chamber of Commerce and Brookings Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and as vice president on Brookings Friends of Baseball board. He is currently a member of the Brookings Health System Board of Trustees.
 
Born in Salem, Oregon and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Sell came to South Dakota State from the University of Northern Iowa, where he worked in various roles at the university and within the Cedar Falls, Iowa community for 10 years. He also worked at Villanova University, Syracuse University, Ohio State University and Bowling Green State University. Sell gained further experience working in the private sector for various sports teams and events.
 
Sell earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Bowling Green State University (Ohio) in 1991 and completed a master’s degree in physical education/sport administration at The Ohio State University in 1992.
 
He and his wife, Jennie, are the parents of four children.