General | 8/27/2024 1:56:08 PM

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The River States Conference announced Tuesday that Ron Prettyman, a 40-year veteran of college athletics, has been named the interim Commissioner of the Conference, effective immediately.

Current River States Conference commissioner Michael Schell is facing challenging health conditions, and the RSC Council of Presidents made the decision, in conjunction with and with the blessing of Commissioner Schell, to bring on an interim Commissioner. This move will allow Schell to focus fully on his health, with the hope that he is able to return to full-time work with the Conference in the future.

Prettyman has served as an Athletic Director at institutions across the nation during his career, including time at Vanguard University (1983-1995), Cal State Dominguez Hills (2005-2015), and Indiana State University (2005-2015). He also has experience at the national level, spending three years in the NCAA national office in Indianapolis as managing director of championships. Recently, he has served as interim athletic director at California Baptist University, RSC member Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, and the University of New Haven.

Now residing in Terre Haute, Indiana, Prettyman is a native of Southern California, and earned his bachelor's degree from Vanguard University and his master's degree from California State University Stanislaus.

Aiding Prettyman in the administration of the Conference will be Ryan Murphy, who was brought in by Schell in July as the league's new Assistant Commissioner. The primary day-to-day responsibilities for this position include directing the communications and statistics of the conference.  Duties also include maintaining the website and using social media to promote the conference through posting competition results, conference events, awards, etc.

Murphy came to the River States Conference after eight years at Ave Maria University, including the last four as the University's Sports Information Director.

The River States Conference was established in 1916 and is the oldest conference in the NAIA. It was known as the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for 100 years from 1916-2016 before a name change and re-branding took place July 1, 2016. The new name best reflects the current conference membership, which includes 12 schools in four states: Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.

For more information, visit RiverStatesConference.com or follow the RSC on social media @RiverStatesConf on X or Facebook.com/RiverStatesConference.