Chris Clunie - Vice President and Director of Athletics - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Chris Clunie

Title:
Vice President and Director of Athletics
Email:
Phone:
2373

Davidson College Vice President & Director of Athletics Chris Clunie has led the Wildcats to transformative levels of growth and success since taking the helm July 1, 2018.

Davidson has embraced a mission focused on ‘Athletics Done Right,’ where scholar-athletes achieve the highest levels of academic and athletic excellence, coaches and administration build sustainable championship competitiveness and the entire Davidson community strives for leadership, service and impact.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Davidson has been and continues to be among the leading institutions in terms of academics, not only within the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Conference, the Pioneer Football League (PFL) and the Southern Conference (SoCon), but also in the country.
During the 2023-24 academic year, 423 Wildcats were recognized on respective Honor Rolls for the A-10, PFL and SoCon (3.0 GPA or higher). Collectively, the more than 500 scholar-athletes achieved over a 3.5 GPA during the academic year. Nationally, the NCAA annually honors teams earning multi-year Academic Progress Rates in the top 10 percent of all squads in each sport. For 2023-24, nine teams (baseball, football, men’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s cross country, women’s lacrosse, women’s swimming and diving, women’s track and field, women’s volleyball) earned NCAA Division I Academic Progress (APR) Public Recognition Awards.

CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITIVENESS
Under Clunie's direction and leadership, Davidson Athletics is experiencing one of the most successful stretches in school history. From the hiring of additional staff to enhancing scholar-athlete services, Wildcat athletics is positioned to be successful on the national stage for years to come.
Davidson has appeared in seven NCAA Tournaments during Clunie's tenure. The Davidson men’s golf team has had an impressive run, including three straight A-10 championships from 2021-23 as well as an NCAA Regional qualifier (Will Davis) in 2024.
Davidson football won back-to-back PFL championships in 2020 and 2021 and made a third straight NCAA FCS Tournament appearance in 2022.
Davidson baseball won a school-record 43 games in 2022, including the program’s first outright regular-season title.
And the Davidson men’s basketball team had an incredible run in 2022, including an A-10 regular season championship and a 2022 NCAA Tournament at-large bid in what was legendary Coach Bob McKillop’s last season.
Davidson’s volleyball team has enjoyed a great run during Clunie’s term, including three straight winning seasons highlighted by a remarkable run to the semifinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) in 2022. Davidson women’s lacrosse has enjoyed four consecutive seasons with 10 wins or more, including an 11-7 record in 2024 and a program-best 7-2 mark in A-10 play. The 2022 Davidson women’s soccer team finished the season 13-3-4, with the most wins since 2009, and advanced to the A-10 Championship semifinals.
In addition to team success, the Wildcats have seen incredible recent individual achievements. Dylan Felt won back-to-back Most Outstanding Performer honors at the 2023 and 2024 A-10 Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships, then competed in four events at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. Jayden Smith has quickly become one of the most decorated men’s track and field athletes ever — 2023 A-10 Co-Most Outstanding Track Performer, 2023 and 2024 NCAA Qualifier, 2024 NCAA All-American and 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier. And Bella Brady set the standard in volleyball with three A-10 Libero of the Year awards as well as the A-10’s 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year nomination.

COMMUNITY
Clunie has made community outreach and fan engagement a priority within Davidson Athletics. In 2019, Davidson Athletics created its ‘Cats Care initiative, an athletics-wide mission to address important social issues and provide outreach to the surrounding community.
Since then, Davidson scholar-athletes, coaches and staff have logged hundreds of community service hours with local and regional partners. Teams have partnered with a variety of organizations such as Strong Girls United, Dream on 3, Uplifting Athletes and Athletes for Hope, raising awareness and support across a number of key areas.
In 2022, the department launched its #CatsCare Mentorship Program, pairing experienced scholar-athletes with incoming scholar-athletes to help guide them through their first year in areas such as time management, mental health, academic resources, social and career advice, and more.
In 2022, Clunie led the efforts to honor legendary former head men’s basketball coaches Lefty Driesell and Terry Holland (Holland was also a scholar-athlete and former AD) through retirement of their jerseys.
And in 2022, after coordinating the completion of Stephen Curry’s degree from Davidson College, Clunie oversaw the ‘Curry For 3’ community celebration that honored Curry’s graduation, his induction into the Davidson Athletics Hall of Fame and the retirement of both his jersey and his No. 30 for men’s basketball.

FACILITIES
New and enhanced facilities have been a pillar of the Davidson Athletics strategic foundation under Clunie.
In April 2024, as part of the Davidson Athletics Next Step initiative, Davidson College celebrated the opening of the state-of-the-art Davidson College Stadium for football and lacrosse, as well as Game Changers Field House (named in honor of president emerita Carol Quillen and her successful Game Changers campaign). This $54 million project also included the renovation of Richardson Stadium and Belk Track into the Case Track & Field Complex.
Other impactful projects have included the George Weicker '75 Dugout in 2019, the Harry L. Vance Athletic Center practice facility branding in 2022 and the Holland Family Basketball Performance Center in 2023.

FUNDRAISING
Clunie has pushed the athletics community to ‘do more with more’ during his time at Davidson. And the emphasis has certainly paid off, including a record-breaking $23.1 million raised for scholar-athletes in support of scholarships, excellence opportunities and capital projects during the 2021-22 academic year. Other significant gifts during this time include the Berman Sports Performance Endowment in 2021, the Curry Family Women’s Athletics Initiative in 2021, Field 76 in Honor of Coach David J. Fagg ‘58 in 2022, the Falconi Family Women’s Athletic Scholarship in 2024, the Graeme and Gloria Keith Davidson College Golf House at River Run in 2024, and the Charlie Slagle Men’s Soccer Head Coaching Endowment in 2024.

LEADERSHIP
Clunie has held numerous leadership roles in the industry. Within the A-10, he has served on the COVID Medical Advisory Committee, the Sport Competition Committee, the Alston Working Group, the Commission of Racial Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the Women’s Basketball Advancement Committee. In 2019, he was selected to serve on the NCAA’s Men’s Basketball Rules Committee for a four-year term. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Charlotte Sports Foundation.
Clunie was promoted to Vice-President in 2023 in part for his work outside of athletics. In addition to the college’s Senior Leadership Team, he currently serves on the Watson Fellowship Selection Committee, the Deliberative Citizenship Advisory Council and is the faculty advisor for the Sport Management Club. He also previously served on the COVID Core Response Team.

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Clunie came to Davidson following 10 years with the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he rose the ranks to become the Director of International Basketball Operations. He brought elite development programs, coaching workshops and other major events to nations across the globe. He also oversaw basketball operations for NBA All-Star Weekend and the NBA Draft Combine. Before his time with the NBA league office, Clunie worked with the San Antonio Spurs in Corporate Development.

Clunie received a bachelor of science degree from Davidson College, where he was a basketball scholar-athlete, in 2006 and an MPA from Columbia University in 2015. He and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of Maisie and Sienna.