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Former Gonzaga AD Mike Roth receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh announces that the campus road in front of the McCarthey Athletic Center is being nameMike Roth Way after for former Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth, on right, during a ceremony before the Bulldogs game with Texas, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, in the McCarthey Athletic Center. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

Former Gonzaga Athletic Director Mike Roth has been named the recipient of the 2022 Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award, the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) announced Wednesday.

Roth retired from his post following the 2020-21 season – his 24th year in charge of Gonzaga Athletics.

“I am extremely honored and humbled by this award,” Roth said. “As someone who has been a part of the selection committee since the inception of the award, I know the outstanding company that I am joining, and again, it is very humbling. Thanks needs to go out to all my peers in I-AAA for this recognition.

“I also need to thank all of the Gonzaga athletics department staff and student-athletes. They are the ones who did all the work and brought our collective dreams into reality. I have been truly blessed to be a part of Gonzaga University, Gonzaga athletics, and I-AAA. Thank you, all!”

Roth will be formally recognized at the 2022 NACDA Convention in Las Vegas this June. Twice during his career Roth was named the Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year, in 2008-09 and 2018-19.

Under Roth, Gonzaga made 73 NCAA Tournament/NCAA Championship appearances and 31 student-athletes were named All-Americans. Gonzaga athletes thrived academically under Roth’s watch and more than 3,500 were named to the President’s List or Dean’s List, with a record 163 making it during the 2018-19 academic year. Since 1987, Gonzaga athletic teams averaged a 3.0 GPA or higher in 44 consecutive semesters.

Additionally Roth oversaw the opening or upgrading of numerous athletic facilities on Gonzaga’s campus, including the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center in 2004. In the fall of 2017, Gonzaga opened the 51,240-square foot Volkar Athletic Center – an athletic performance venue featuring student-athlete support services, a weight room, a nutrition center, a basketball practice court, the Gonzaga Athletics Hall of Fame and multiple meeting areas.

“A valued contributor to the DI-AAA ADA’s early development, Mike served our intercollegiate athletics profession with distinction for decades in a variety of roles,” said Ken Kavanaugh, the Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award Committee Chair and Director of Athletics at Florida Gulf Coast University. “In turn, he positively impacted the countless Gonzaga student-athletes and staffers whom he worked alongside daily as well as the many others for whom he has been a terrific mentor and cherished colleague. There’s no doubt he left an indelible mark on the Zags community and is much deserving of this significant recognition.”