Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill to speak at 1st & 10 Club
Mobile, Ala. (Nov. 1st, 2024) – Sun Belt Conference Commissioner, Keith Gill, will speak to the 1st & 10 Club Membership on Monday, Nov. 4 at Moe’s Original Barbeque. In addition, the club announced today their honorees for this month’s high school athletic awards:
Offensive Player of the Month- Shondell Harris – Mary G Montgomery
Defensive Player of the Month- Bishop Burkhalter – Spanish Fort
Special Teams player of the Month- Drew Ginsberg – St Paul’s Episcopal
Lineman of the Month- Carde Smith- Williamson
Gill was named Sun Belt Conference Commissioner in March of 2019 becoming the first African-American to commission an NCAA FBS Division I (DI) Conference.
With 25 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, Gill’s decision to maintain the divisional format in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) has been instrumental in reestablishing rivalries that create compelling matchups weekly. The SBC remains the only FBS conference split into divisions, which continues to benefit both players and fans.
The SBC has grown tremendously since Gill took the helm in 2019. The Conference has more than doubled its NCAA championships in numerous DI sports and Bowl Season postseason participation, increasing appearance from 17 teams to 37 teams in 2023. Last season alone, 12 out of 14 SBC teams competed in bowl games. The University of South Alabama, a SBC team, currently holds the title for the 68 Ventures Bowl, defeating Eastern Michigan from the Mid-American Conference last December.
Prior to being Commissioner of the SBC, Gill served in various roles in athletics at the Atlantic 10 Conference, University of Oklahoma, and NCAA. Gill served as the Executive Associate Commissioner for the Atlantic 10 Conference. He was responsible for identifying initiatives and strategies to ensure A-10 men’s basketball remained a top seven league. He supported the A-10’s digital and television broadcast strategy and provided regular NCAA governance updates to the A-10 Council of Presidents.
From 2004 to 2007 at the University of Oklahoma, Gill operated many sectors of Sooner athletics, including men’s basketball, women’s soccer, and baseball, while supervising personnel, budgets, facilities, fundraising, student-athlete issues, and the selection of coaches for those sports.
Gill served in membership services at the NCAA National Office from 1995-99 and later returned to the NCAA as Director of Membership services from 2000-04. He developed policies related to DI intercollegiate athletics including governance, rules compliance, diversity, gender equity, academic integrity, student-athlete welfare, fiscal integrity, strategic planning, sportsmanship, and legislation.
A former student-athlete, Gill was a four-year football letterman at Duke University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in history and sociology in 1994. He then went on to receive his master’s degree at the University of Oklahoma.
