SUPPORT STAFF Larry Counts
JoJo Freeman
Associate Athletic Director 16th Year/Middle Tennessee, 1972
Assistant Media Relations Director 3rd Year/Mississippi State, 1999
Larry Counts has made Middle Tennessee a family affair during his tenure in the Middle Tennessee athletic department. He, his wife, and his son, have all left a mark on the program and continue to do so with each passing year. Counts, who has worked in the athletic department for 15 years, is in his sixth year as associate athletic director. His duties include game day operations, facility management, licensing coordination, concessions management, and liaison between the Athletic Department and the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association. In 2000, Counts was selected by Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Wright Waters to serve as tournament manager for the 2001 Sun Belt Conference Basketball Championships in Mobile, Ala., and he has served in that capacity in each tournament since that time. After 12 years as executive director of the Blue Raider Athletic Association, Counts was recognized by the organization’s members in 1998 for his outstanding achievements. After all, Counts founded the BRAA in 1987. Counts oversaw the design process, budget management, and construction of the $27 million football stadium renovation. More recently, Counts orchestrated the $1 million renovation of the new football locker room and training facility completed prior to the 2001 football season. During the last decade, Counts has also been responsible for developing a business plan and managing the operation of bringing concessions in-house, developing and administrating a licensing program, and developing and coordinating a plan for selling advertising signage at Blue Raider athletic facilities, among other projects. A lifelong resident of Murfreesboro, TN, Counts is married to Wynnifred, who works as the assistant director of Athletic Advisement. The couple has one son, Wes, who finished his football career during 2001 as the school’s all-time passing leader in every category. In his spare time, Counts enjoys woodworking, auto racing, radio controlled cars and airplanes, and model railroading.
JoJo Freeman is beginning his third year in the Blue Raider Media Relations Office, working primarily with soccer, track, baseball, and men’s tennis. Freeman came to Middle Tennessee after serving as an intern at Texas Tech during the 2000-01 academic year. While in Lubbock, he worked primarily with soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and softball. Freeman helped pitcher Amanda Renfro earn All-America honors for the 2001 season and had a large hand in the 2000 galleryfurniture.com Bowl Media Guide. The Gulfport, MS, native graduated from Mississippi State in 1999 with a bachelor’s in communications. While at MSU, Freeman spent two years as a student assistant in the Media Relations office, serving as the primary softball contact for the 1999 season. He also worked the 1997 NCAA Baseball Regional in Starkville and served as the official scorer for Bulldog baseball during the 1998 season. Freeman was also a member of the MSU Media Relations staff for the 1999 Cotton Bowl Classic. Freeman is single and lives in Murfreesboro. He has a seven-year-old daughter, Erin, who resides in Chattanooga.
52
Denise Gideon Assistant Media Relations Director 3rd Year/Tennessee, 1999 Denise Gideon is beginning her third year with the MT Media Relations Office. Her primary duties are with volleyball, women’s basketball, women’s tennis, and softball. Gideon joined Middle Tennessee after spending two years as the media relations director at Cumberland Universtiy in Lebanon, TN. Prior to Cumberland, she was an assistant in game operations and facility management at Tulane University. She spent three years as a manager for the Tennessee Lady Vols track and field team, and two years as a graduate assistant. She is a 1997 graduate of the University of
Tennessee and received her master’s at UT in sport administration in 1999. Gideon is single and lives in Lebanon.
Bill Lansden Associate AD/Fundraising and Marketing 2nd Year/Rhodes College, 1986 Since coming to Middle Tennessee a year ago, Bill Lansden has made a big impact on fundraising and marketing. However, that should come as no surprise because he certainly has the credentials to do just that. Lansden comes to Middle Tennessee from Memphis, where he spent three years as the director of marketing and sales for the FedEx St. Jude Golf Classic. There he coordinated all corporate hospitality for the weeklong PGA Tour event, administered marketing and promotional campaigns for the tournament, sold corporate sponsorships and directed up to a dozen volunteer committees for the Classic. Before working at the golf tournament, Lansden spent six-plus years in the athletic marketing department at the University of Memphis, beginning his tenure as an intern in August of 1993. During his years at U of M, he was responsible for marketing and promoting and providing game management for almost all Tiger sports, ranging from women’s soccer and volleyball to football and men’s basketball. Lansden spent three years as an athletic marketing coordinator, during which he sold corporate sponsorships, administered community outreach programs and managed graduate assistants, interns and volunteer workers. He then took over as the athletic marketing director in 1997, serving in that capacity for seven months before becoming the director of annual giving in the Tiger Club Office. There he oversaw the annual membership drive, contacted new members and assisted in fundraising efforts totaling over $2 million. The 39-year-old served as a staff senate representative for four years at the University of Memphis. He also was a member of the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors from 1997 to 2001, serving as the chairman of the board in 2001. Lansden earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rhodes College in Memphis in 1986, playing football all four years in college, and serving as team captain his se-
2003-04 BLUE RAIDER BASKETBALL