CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel Director of Athletics Mike Capaccio announced the hiring of Joni Stephens as the new Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA). Stephens will officially begin on May 15.
"We are very excited to have Joni join our executive staff here at The Citadel," said Capaccio. "Her experience as both a coach and an administrator at the Division I level brings a valuable resource to our team."
Stephens comes to the Lowcountry with over 20 years in college athletics, most recently the Assistant AD for Compliance and interim SWA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Stephens moved into her administration role in 2022 after serving as the head women's golf coach the previous three years. She made a significant impact on the golf program, concluding with the 2021 campaign that saw the Islanders record two tournament wins and the highest finish at the Southland Conference Championships in 10 years.
The Islander golf team capture the championship at the UTRGV Invitational and the PGA Works Collegiate Championship at TPC Sawgrass. It marked the first tournament win since the 2008-09 season, and the first time the program won multiple tournaments in a season since the 2003-04 season.
Additionally, the Islanders placed two student-athletes on the SLC All-Conference Teams for the first time in school history as Kellsey Sample and Lucie Charbonnier were both recognized on the All-SLC Third-Team. The Islanders also garnered an SLC All-Academic Second-Team honoree after Lucy Martinez submitted a cumulative 4.0 GPA.
In her first season with the program, the Islanders set a program record for stroke average and birdies.
Prior to her appointment in Corpus Christi, Stephens spent 16 years as a Division I head golf coach at three different institutions. She is also an LPGA Class A member.
Stephens served two years as the head coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, after spending two years leading the golf program at the University of Montana. In her time in Missoula, she coached eight Big Sky Golfers of the Week and six all-conference performers. Her teams were ranked as high as 132 by Golfstat.
Stephens spent 12 years as head coach at Eastern Kentucky University. She was the 2005 Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year and coached 17 all-conference performers. The Colonels finished in the top-three at the OVC Championships four times and had two second-place finishes in her last six seasons.
Stephens earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from EKU. Stephens and her husband Pat have three sons, Daniel, Ben and Joseph; two daughters-in-law, Mindy and Leah, and six grandchildren, Carter, Cara, Dexter, Cannon, Archer and Lochner.
