Janet Cone (born December 7, 1955) is an American college

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

for the

UNC Asheville Bulldogs The UNC Asheville Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA). They participate in Division I of the NCAA and are a member of the Big South Conference. UNCA fields varsity teams in 12 spor ...

, a position she has held since 2004. In 2015, she became a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

committee. She has also been a women's basketball coach for several teams, including Saint Leo University, Western Carolina University,

Mars Hill College Mars Hill University is a private Christian university in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The university offers 35 undergraduate majors and includes a school of nursing and graduate schools in education, criminal justice, and management. From 1859 to ...

and

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

, as well as an AD for some of those.

Background

Cone was born in

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley and Charleston counties. It is part of the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Su ...

, to Joseph and Florence Cone, who have operated a

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

business since 1954. Cone attended

Summerville High School Summerville High School is a public high school in Summerville, South Carolina. History Until the 1960s, a brick building on Main Street, which is now Rollings Middle School of the Arts, was the only high school in the Summerville area. As Sum ...

, playing basketball for four years. In 1978, she graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' with a bachelor's degree from

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

, where she played basketball and

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

. She later obtained a master's degree from the University of South Carolina.

Coaching and executive career

From 1986 to 1990, Cone was head coach of both the

volleyball and women's basketball teams. She was head coach of the women's basketball team at Western Carolina University (1990–1993). At Saint Leo University, she was head women’s basketball coach and volleyball coach, before becoming assistant director of athletics. In 1996, Cone became the first head coach of the

Samford Bulldogs women's basketball The Samford Bulldogs women's basketball team, formerly the Samford Lady Bulldogs, is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, United States. Since 2008, the team competes in the Southe ...

team. After five years, she was appointed associate athletics director. Since 2004, she has been athletics director for

UNC Asheville The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...

. While at UNCA, Cone has managed to get its women's golf program into the 2016 NCAA Division I, only the second sport added since 2010. She also revived the women's swimming program in 2012, the first time that the UNCA athletics department had added a sport in 20 years. In 2013, Cone was one of only 28 directors of athletics to be named as Under Armour AD of the Year by the

National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 ins ...

.Under Armour AD of the Year Award: Past Winners
(PDF) In September 2015, Cone became the only woman added to the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, which selects and

seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

the teams for

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

. Her tenure is expected to be ten years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cone, Janet 1955 births Living people People from Summerville, South Carolina American women's basketball coaches Furman University alumni UNC Asheville Bulldogs athletic directors University of South Carolina alumni Western Carolina Catamounts women's basketball coaches Women college athletic directors in the United States Furman Paladins women's basketball players Mars Hill Lions Saint Leo Lions Samford Bulldogs women's basketball coaches

Background

Coaching and executive career

See also

References