STARKVILLE — Andrew Piper wanted to get involved in sports marketing.
So he attended the University of Florida beginning in 2009 and majored in sport management. He wanted to work with the athletic marketing team, but they didn’t have an open sport for during his freshman year. He decided to see if he could get involved in the communication side, so he sent an email and a resume to one of the sports information directors in the Gator athletic department. They had a spot for him.
“I ended up liking it,” Piper said. “My dad always jokes with me and said I was always reading boxscores. I was a stats nerd.”
The Mississippi State Assistant Media Relations Director is the main contact for the softball team and is the No. 3 contact for the Bulldog football team. He will travel with the Bulldogs (7-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) as they take on Arkansas (6-4, 4-4) 6 p.m. (ESPN) Saturday night at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
While working with the media relations department as a undergrad, he developed a love for the communications side. He felt that it offered him more and different opportunities than marketing did.
“When you’re in marketing, you’re almost marketing the home arena,” Piper said. “It’s home games only, you’re not going on the road. But with communications, it’s home and road. I thought that was fun. It’s just an opportunity to travel.”
Piper played volleyball in high school and had an opportunity to play at the Division III level, but was unsure of continuing his playing career. He thought it over and decided playing wasn’t going to further his career.
But he still wanted to be involved in sports.
“I just kind of decided on the academic side and knew I would get involved,” Piper said.
He graduated from Florida in 2013, but spent the spring semester and some of the summer developing his craft and contacts with an internship opportunity.
Just like when he arrived at Florida, he sent emails to several sports information directors at smaller schools. He heard back from one and spent the spring of 2013 at Florida Gulf Coast University. The Eagle basketball team was a No. 15 seed in that year’s NCAA Tournament and ended up beating Georgetown and San Diego State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
After his internship, he became a graduate assistant at Marshall University where he worked with the men’s soccer and basketball teams. He enjoyed his time and learned a lot, but he was ready to get back to the SEC.
“We had a couple of games, soccer games and volleyball games, that were against SEC schools that were televised,” Piper said. “I realized the kind of impact that would have. It’s just nice being in the SEC because you kind of realize when you go to a smaller conference (it’s not as big a production).”
Piper still had one more year of graduate school at Marshall and was given another year to work with the men’s basketball team, but he started looking for a full-time job.
He didn’t spend all his time looking for a job, but when a position at MSU came open, he felt it was the right fit.
“I wasn’t nervously looking,” Piper said. “It was more like, ‘Hey, if anything comes open that I would actually enjoy.’ It was more of, ‘If I’m going to leave here, it’s going to be for something that’s good.'”
Piper was hired in 2014 and worked with the Bulldog football team last season as they rose to No. 1 in the nation for five weeks and began the season with nine-straight victories. This past spring, he saw the MSU softball team, led by coach Vann Stuedeman, make an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the fourth-straight berth.
Piper recalls doing whatever was needed while being a student at Florida, but working with a sports team full-time, brings a sense of satisfaction for him.
“It’s been fun just to get to know the guys and get to know them on a personal level,” Piper said. “When you get to know the student-athletes like that, travel with them, spend time on the road with them, and see them succeed, it’s just that much better.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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