THE FLATS – Three longtime members of Georgia Tech athletics’ staff have received promotions to the athletics department’s executive leadership team and senior staff, director of athletics Todd Stansbury announced on Friday. Chris Breen and Lance Markos have been promoted from assistant athletics directors to associate athletics directors for academics and compliance, respectively, while Brandon Pottebaum has been promoted to assistant athletics director for academics.
“I’m proud and excited to announce these very deserving promotions for Chris, Lance and Brandon,” Stansbury said. “All three have been vital to the off-field success of our student-athletes over the past several years and, by extension, the success that our teams have enjoyed in the realm of athletic competition. I am looking forward to their continued contributions to Georgia Tech athletics in their new roles.”
Breen has been a member of Georgia Tech athletics’ student services staff since 2011, most recently serving as assistant A.D. for student services since 2016. In his new role, Breen will lead the day-to-day oversight of Tech’s academic support staff, which includes 13 staff members and supports 400-plus student-athletes. In addition, he will serve on the department’s executive leadership team and as a liaison to campus partners to advise and educate student-athletes on creating a clear track to earning a Georgia Tech degree.
Breen has been critical to the Yellow Jackets’ academic success over his decade on The Flats. During his time with the student services staff, Georgia Tech student-athletes have compiled six-straight semesters with a mean grade point average of 3.0 or higher, matched an all-time high with an 89% NCAA Graduation Success Rate in 2020 and, in 2019, was the only institution from a Power Five conference with a multiyear NCAA Academic Progress Rate higher than the national average in each of its sports. Earlier this year, Tech’s academic staff earned the 2021 N4A Model Practices Award in honor of the JumpStart Jackets “Virtual Edge” program for first-year student-athletes.
In addition to his role in academic support, Breen also serves as chair of the athletics department’s professional development huddle and is a member of the academic steering committee and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board of Trustees’ academic subcommittee.
Prior to coming to Tech, Breen was associate director of academic support for student-athletes at Seton Hall from 2006-11. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University, where he was a football student-athlete and assistant football coach, and a master’s degree from Manhattan College.
Markos has served as assistant athletics director for compliance since 2016 and has been a member of the athletics’ department’s executive leadership team since 2020. In his new role, he will oversee Tech athletics’ NCAA compliance team, which includes four staff members, and all facets of the Yellow Jackets’ compliance operations. Most recently, he has played a major role in the creation of Georgia Tech’s name, image and likeness policies and oversight, and educating student-athletes on the opportunities available to them through NIL.
He’ll also continue to serve on ELT and will represent the athletics department as a member of the Institute’s Office of General Counsel.
Markos has overseen the day-to-day operations of Georgia Tech’s NCAA compliance office since his arrival on The Flats in 2016. Prior to coming to Tech, he spent one year as senior director of compliance at Kansas (2015-16) and 12 years at North Carolina (2004-15), including the final 11 as director of compliance.
A Charlottesville, Va. native, Markos holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a master’s from UNC.
Pottebaum has been a member of Georgia Tech athletics’ student services staff since 2013 and served as director of academics for football since 2019. In his new role, he will oversee all academic support services and staff for four sports – football, women’s basketball, softball and women’s tennis – and serve as a department liaison to Tech faculty. He will also join the athletics department’s senior staff.
As director of academics for football since 2019, Pottebaum been integral to the academic success of the Yellow Jackets’ football student-athletes, which included a program-record 3.0 team GPA during the 2020 spring semester. Additionally, under Pottebaum’s direction, the mean GPA for Tech football’s first-year student-athletes has risen from a 2.74 in the summer of 2016 to a 3.45 in the summer of 2021.
Prior to his arrival at Tech in 2013, Pottebaum was an academic support services/compliance assistant at Iowa, where he earned a master’s degree. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista University (Iowa), where he was a football student-athlete, and is currently in the final stages of earning a PhD from Georgia State University, which he is on track to receive in May 2022.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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