Bradley University Athletics

Chris Reynolds was named Bradley University’s 10th Director of Athletics on March 17, 2015 and was elevated to the position of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics in March 2018.

Reynolds has more than 25 years of distinguished intercollegiate athletics experience and has led the Braves to record-breaking achievements and unprecedented success athletically, academically and in the community during his tenure at Bradley.

On a national level, Reynolds chaired the prestigious  NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee during the 2022-23 season, which culminated a five-year term that began in 2018. Furthermore, Reynolds’ leadership nationally extended to his service as the President of the Division I-AAA Athletic Director’s Association Executive Board for the 2020-21 year, as well as his participation as a member of the NCAA Transfer Working Group. At the conference level, Reynolds served as a member of the MVC Executive Committee and Chair of the Athletics Administration Committee for the 2019-20 academic year.

Under Reynolds’ leadership, the Braves have enjoyed their most successful run competitively in department history across all sports programs. Bradley has claimed 13 Missouri Valley Conference championships during Reynolds’ tenure, the most for the school during any 10-year span.
In recognition of these accolades and other Bradley Athletics achievements, Reynolds was honored in 2021 and 2024 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) as an Athletics Director of the Year recipient.

The many athletic accomplishments under Reynolds’ leadership does not stop at conference titles. The Braves have reached a number of historic milestones during his time on the Hilltop with teams enjoying unparalleled success both regionally and nationally. Among the highlights:

• The men’s basketball team won the MVC regular season championship in 2023 for the first time in 27 years.
•  The women’s basketball team reached the pinnacle of the Missouri Valley Conference with the program’s first MVC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament bid in 2021 for the program which dates back to 1975.
• The Braves’ 2021 crown capped the women’s basketball team’s most successful run in its history, which included two-straight 20-win seasons for the first time and a school-record 22 overall victories and 13 conference wins in 2019-20.
• Men’s basketball won back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Championships for the first time in school history during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. It also marked the first time the program qualified for the NCAA Tournament in consecutive campaigns since 1954 and 1955.
• The 2019 men’s basketball championship was Bradley’s first MVC Tournament title in 31 years and culminated a four-year turnaround that saw the Braves go from a last-place finish the year prior to Reynolds’ arrival to the top of the Valley. The Braves have maintained their success since, following up with the team’s second crown one season later and a 23-win campaign that marked the program’s most victories since 1993-94.
• The cross country programs have enjoyed unprecedented success both at the conference and national level. The men’s and women’s teams have combined for eight Missouri Valley Conference Championships – the first five in school history for the men’s program, while the women’s team completed the championship sweep three times.
• In 2018, the men’s cross country team became the first MVC school to qualify for the NCAA Championship in 18 seasons when it earned its first ever bid to the national meet in its history. The Braves finished the 2018 season ranked 24th in the country, while BU has also qualified four individuals to the national meet.
• The Bradley soccer team continues to compete for league titles with its three-straight trips to the MVC Tournament Semifinals from 2019 to 2021 tied for its longest streak since 2008.
• The Bradley volleyball team has claimed 48 conference victories since 2018 – the most in any four-year stretch in school history. Overall, Bradley has won 11 or more contests in four-straight years after posting five 11-win seasons in the program’s first 35 years, while the team’s 24 victories during the last two campaigns are the most in the league during that span.
• The men’s and women’s track programs have enjoyed their most successful run in school history. The men’s team set school records for points at the MVC Indoor (86) and Outdoor (70) Championships in 2019, while the BU women followed with record performances at the 2022 MVC Indoor (70) and Outdoor (84) meets. Additionally, three Braves have earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championship – Kristen Busch (2016), Daniel Gagne (2017) and Wilma Nielsen (2021 and 2022).
• The men’s golf program won its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference Championship in 2018 and earned a trip to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1955. Overall, the Braves won nine tournaments from 2016 to 2019 – the most titles for the program in a four-year span since 1969-72.
• The women’s golf program enjoyed its best season in years during the 2021-22 campaign despite featuring one of the youngest rosters in the league. The Braves finished with the top two freshmen in the conference with Maria Perakis collecting MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades.
• The Bradley women’s tennis program continues to advance under Reynolds’ watch. The 2019 team set a school record with 16 dual-match victories and finished as runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference standings – its best league finish in program history.
• Bradley has also enjoyed success on the baseball and softball diamonds during Reynolds’ tenure. The baseball program has posted a winning conference record in four-straight seasons for the first time in school history. The Braves also won 30-plus games overall in 2018 and 2019 – eclipsing the total in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1993 and 1994 – while the team’s 12 conference wins in 2021 are its most in 14 years. The softball program, meanwhile, is one of three Valley programs with at least six seasons of 12-plus wins in the last eight years.

Success in the classroom has been just as common under Reynolds’ guidance. Bradley has set numerous records academically in his tenure, including:

• Bradley claimed the Missouri Valley Conference All-Academic Award by posting the highest GPA in the league during three of the past nine years.
• In the 2022-23 academic year, Bradley student-athletes achieved a 96% Graduation Success Rate, a 3.42 combined GPA, and a 98.5% of its student-athletes entered the workforce or continued their education over the past three years.
• In the 2022-23 academic year, nine senior student-athletes earned the 2022-23 MVC Board of Directors Academic Excellence Award for earning a minimum 3.9 GPA
• In 2022-23, Bradley Athletics boasted 20 All MVC First-Team Scholar-Athletes
• All Bradley sport programs exceeded the APR rate standards nationally and within the Missouri Valley Conference for posting a department average of 988 in the most recent report.

Community engagement has become another strength of the department and a point of emphasis for Reynolds during his time at Bradley as student-athletes volunteered 1,700 hours during the 2022-23 academic year, benefitting more than 47 organizations throughout Central Illinois, in their home communities and across the globe. The Department of Athletics also introduced the Bradley Outreach & Leadership Development Program (B.O.L.D.) in 2016 with its mission to support student-athlete development initiatives and enhance their experience through service and leadership opportunities. The program includes a commitment to community outreach as well as providing student-athletes with leadership development training and experiential learning experiences, which has included taking trips to Chicago and St. Louis to meet with team executives from the NFL’s Bears and MLB’s Cardinals.

Women’s tennis student-athlete Malini Wijesinghe highlighted the complete student-athlete experience at Bradley on the national stage when she was honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as Bradley University’s first-ever recipient of the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award in 2018. Presented annually since 1982 to a student-athlete who exhibits outstanding sportsmanship and leadership, as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements, Wijesinghe received the award in a ceremony prior to the start of the U.S. Open.

Reynolds has led efforts which culminated in significant upgrades for the department, providing student-athletes with more resources and updated facilities. In the fall of 2019, Bradley Athletics partnered with Ticketmaster to implement Account Manager, which resulted in a 233% increase in online renewals, a 73% spike in new names added to the BU database and a 100% rise in digital tickets for season ticket holders. During the summer of 2018, he announced a new partnership with Under Armour as the Baltimore-based company became the official outfitter of Bradley Athletics, tripling the combined value of the department’s previous shoe and apparel contract with Adidas. As part of the multi-year agreement, Under Armour provides shoe, apparel and training gear for all 15 varsity sports. Reynolds also has spearheaded a number of facility upgrades during his time on campus, which include:

• Bradley reached an agreement to make the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex, one of the premier softball venues in the Midwest, its new game-day home for the softball program, beginning with the 2017 season.
• Fundraising efforts allowed the department to enhance its sports medicine and performance areas by installing a state-of-the-art recovery room in Renaissance Coliseum.
• Several facility enhancements and amenities have been added at Shea Stadium (soccer and golf) and at Dozer Park (baseball).

 
Prior to Bradley, Reynolds served as Deputy Director of Athletics for Operations and Administration at Northwestern University and supervised all facets of planning, design and construction of athletic capital facilities projects, including the management and oversight of the $270-million Lakefront Athletics Complex, and was actively involved with the development staff in securing funding toward the completion of this project. Also, he oversaw the comprehensive renovation of the Rocky Miller Park Baseball Complex. In October of 2014, Reynolds managed to completion the $8.5 million renovation of the recreation facility, which is used for intramurals, club sports and the Northwestern student body. With particular emphasis on football and basketball, Reynolds hired and provided oversight for the first-ever staff member whose responsibility was to manage and enhance Northwestern Athletics’ Fan Experience.

Prior to arriving at Northwestern, Reynolds spent nine years at Indiana University in a variety of senior-level roles, serving in the position of Associate Athletic Director beginning in 2003 and was subsequently promoted to Senior Associate Athletic Director beginning with the 2004 academic year.

While at Indiana University, Reynolds supervised and managed a variety of units during different points in his nine-year tenure, which included: human resources, employment, contest and sponsorship contract management, media relations, coordinated and managed Freedom of Information Act requests, served as liaison to the general counsel office and the Division of Recreation and participated in the negotiated change from Nike to Adidas, which more than doubled the amount of dollars and merchandise to the department. Also, he served as sport administrator at various times for football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and nine other Olympic sport programs. Additionally at Indiana, Reynolds served as an adjunct professor, teaching courses in marketing, sports law, NCAA compliance and sports & higher education.

Prior to joining the staff at Indiana University, Reynolds served as an Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Notre Dame in its Compliance Office. He provided rules education to all of Notre Dame’s coaches, staff, student-athletes and the campus community, as well as educating the South Bend community and Notre Dame booster groups of NCAA rules and regulations.

Beginning his intercollegiate athletics career as an intern at the NCAA national office, Reynolds went on to serve Michigan State University as an Assistant Compliance Coordinator. He then moved to Western Michigan University, where he served in a variety of roles, including the position of Assistant Athletics Director.

Reynolds attended Indiana University and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1993, law degree in 1996 and Ph.D. in 2012. As an undergraduate student, he was a four-year letter winner in basketball and team captain in his senior year. Reynolds helped lead the Hoosiers to Big Ten titles in 1991 and 1993, as well as the 1992 Final Four.

Reynolds and his wife, Katrina, have two children, Joshua and Olivia.