Athletic Administration | 1/2/2015 3:03:00 PM

            NATCHITOCHES -- A 12-year veteran sports journalist, Jason Pugh has been tabbed as the assistant sports information director at Northwestern State.
 
            Pugh, a Bossier City native who worked as an award-winning sports writer at the Shreveport Times, joined the NSU athletic staff late this fall, said director of athletics Greg Burke.
 
            "I always enjoyed the working relationship NSU had with Jason during his time as a sports writer and am delighted that the NSU Athletic Department now benefits from his multi-faceted talents," said Burke. "He is an excellent writer, has outstanding graphics skills, and has the attentive and caring personality to serve as a good liaison for the Sports Information Office with the coaches and staff in our department."
 
            During his tenure at The Times, Pugh was the Northwestern State football and men's basketball beat writer from 2010-2013 and covered the 2012-13 NSU team that captured the program's third NCAA Tournament berth.
 
            Prior to covering area college athletics, Pugh was the primary high school sports writer at The Times, during which he covered several athletes whose careers led them to Northwestern State, including preseason All-Southland Conference performers Jalan West (men's basketball) and second-team All-Southland Conference third baseman Chase Daughdrill (baseball).
 
            While at The Times from 2001-13, Pugh had the opportunity to cover all three World Series that have taken place in Texas, one College World Series, one NCAA Men's Final Four and Super Bowl XLV. He has won first-place awards in Best Feature Story and Best Sports Story from the Louisiana Press Association and first place in Best Prep Feature from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
 
            "Jason is a tremendous addition to our team in the athletic department as a whole and the sports information office in particular," said veteran NSU SID Doug Ireland, an assistant athletic director. "One of our core missions is to best serve the media to enhance coverage of NSU Athletics, and Jason has a great depth of knowledge and understanding about today's sports media world, which is constantly evolving.
 
            "He is highly respected by those he's worked with, worked around and those he covered as a sports writer," said Ireland. "Jason brings a wide range of attributes along with great insight and understanding of our program, the Southland Conference and intercollegiate athletics not only regionally, but nationally."
 
Pugh left the newspaper in July 2013 to enter graduate school. He will complete requirements for a master's of science in sport management from the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts in February.
 
            While a student at Louisiana-Lafayette, Pugh was the sports editor of the campus newspaper, The Vermilion, for two years and was a part of the sports information office for three years. In 2000-01, Pugh was the primary media contact for the inaugural season of Lady Cajuns soccer and for the nationally ranked Ragin' Cajuns baseball team, which made its lone College World Series appearance the previous year.
 
            A 1997 graduate of Airline High School in Bossier City, Pugh was named the 2001 Louisiana-Lafayette Department of Communication Outstanding Graduate.
 
            Pugh has been named on an interim basis under policies of the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System, which includes NSU. He filled the vacancy created when Matt Fowler moved to a similar position at Lamar.