WORCESTER, Mass. – The College of the Holy Cross department of athletics has named Armani Rice as its new assistant director of athletics for student-athlete development, as announced by director of athletics Nathan Pine. Rice will join the senior athletic staff with primary responsibilities around creating and implementing a robust series of programming to emphasize and improve the development and welfare of Holy Cross student-athletes.
“Armani is an impressive person and she will be a tremendous addition to our leadership team here at Holy Cross,” said Pine. “Her background at Duke, the NCAA national office and as a former student-athlete will bring much needed expertise and enthusiasm to better support our student-athletes in all areas of their development. I am pleased to welcome Armani to the Holy Cross family and will look forward to the dividends of her engagement with our student-athletes, coaches and staff."
Rice joins the Crusaders after working at Duke University from 2010-2015. She most recently served as the special assistant to the vice president and director of athletics, where she handled oversight responsibilities for the athletic director's routine commitments including SAAC, public relations obligations and correspondence. In addition, Rice assisted the director of athletics with responsibilities for the Division I NCAA men's basketball committee, United States Olympic Committee and Advocates for Athletic Equity. She also had oversight responsibility for all the executive administrative operations. She previously held positions with Duke as the assistant director of Iron Dukes for special events, and assistant director of administrative operations and human resources.
“We are thrilled for Armani and her exciting new career opportunity,” said Duke deputy director of athletics Nina King. “Armani is extremely bright and engaging, as well as incredibly passionate about college athletics, and in particular the plight of the student-athlete. There is no doubt that she will represent the interests of the Holy Cross student-athlete community brilliantly. Armani has been a valued member of the Duke family for five years and we will miss her greatly. While this is certainly a loss for Duke, Armani is a home run hire for Holy Cross Athletics!”
Prior to her time at Duke, Rice served as a branding and communications intern for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Rice is a 2008 graduate of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas with a bachelor's degree in journalism and media studies. She was a member of the Rebels' women's soccer team, helping lead the squad to three Mountain West Conference titles while earning Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors. Rice went on to earn a master's degree in strategic public relations from George Washington University in 2015.
