Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College community is mourning the passing of former Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics Matt Bassett on February 22.

Only the third Director of Athletics in the College's history, Bassett led the department from July 2007 until his retirement in June 2019.

Among Bassett's most recognized accomplishments was the development of a deeply intentional, and shared mission-based athletic culture program, "Inside the 'L' – a distinctly Jesuit approach to intercollegiate athletics at Le Moyne College". The 'Inside the L' program received both national and international acclaim culminating in an invitation from the Vatican in October of 2016 where Bassett represented Le Moyne at the first-ever Global Conference of Sport and Faith - "Sport at the Service of Humanity". Bassett was the only NCAA Athletic Director to be invited to the global summit, which included 150 leaders from around the world to consider the role of sport in the formation of faith. For his continued efforts to advance Jesuit values and mission-based programming, Bassett was recognized in 2012 with Le Moyne's Ignatian Mission Award. One of Bassett's favorite features of the 'Inside the L' culture was "The Sunday Playbook", a weekly piece of inspiration. Throughout the years, Bassett penned many Playbook reflections, which can be found here.

During Bassett's tenure leading the department, the Dolphins won four national championships and 15 Northeast-10 Conference Championships in eight different sports. During his last three years at the College, the Dolphins had more student athletes, and more teams, earn their way into NCAA championships than during any other three-year period in the College's history. The department's student-athletes also maintained a cumulative grade point average above 3.0 during each semester of Bassett's tenure. Under Bassett's leadership the College also expanded opportunities by adding five intercollegiate athletic sport teams.

Throughout his time on the Heights, he also spearheaded a facility expansion and modernization initiative that resulted in the development of a $3.2 million turf complex, new team rooms for all women's sports, an athletic strength and conditioning facility, an administrative suite, a newly-created state-of-the-art softball complex, and a renovation of the Le Moyne Events Center, the home of the Dolphins' two basketball programs and volleyball program.

Throughout his tenure, Bassett provided leadership at the College, conference and national level. He served as the Second Vice President and Treasurer for the Division II Athletic Directors Association and served on the Board of Directors since 2013. He served as chair of the NCAA Division II Degree Completion Committee from 2014 - 2018 and acted as a mentor in the Division II ADA Mentors program. He served the Northeast 10 Conference on the Executive Officers Committee between 2011 and 2017, and held the position of chair from 2012-2016.  Bassett held other positions within the NE10 Conference governance structure, including membership on the Finance committee, the Hall of Fame committee, and as chair of the Marketing and Branding committee.

For more detailed information on his career, please click here for his retirement announcement.