Katie Ethridge joined the Austin Peay athletics department in July 2017 as its Director of Academic Services.
Ethridge, who in 10 seasons at South Carolina prior to joining Austin Peay, rose through the ranks of the Gamecocks Academic Services office. She began her time in Columbia as an advisor in August 2007 before promotions to assistant director in August 2009 and finally associate director in August 2012. In that latter role, she served as advisor to South Carolina’s baseball, men’s basketball, women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis programs. She also oversaw the eligibility and transfer processes for the athletics department and was instrumental in developing strategic planning for the academic services office.
As academic advisor to the men’s basketball program, Ethridge led that team to five semesters with a team grade-point average of 3.0 or better, including the program’s best-ever team GPA. She also worked with the Gamecocks football program while an assistant director and helped that team post a team GPA of 2.7 or better for six consecutive semesters. The football program also set its best-ever GPA three times under her tutelage.
Ethridge, a Griffin, Georgia native, began her career in her home state as an academic advisor and graduate assistant for academics at Georgia State. There she worked with four varsity programs: men and women’s tennis, women’s soccer and softball, and worked with at-risk student-athletes. She then spent one season at North Carolina State as the assistant academic coordinator for football before joining the South Carolina staff.
A 2002 graduate of Georgia, Ethridge earned a bachelor’s degree in sport studies with an emphasis in communications while in Athens. She then obtained a master’s degree in Sports Administration from Georgia State. Ethridge holds an individual certification from the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics.
