NATCHITOCHES – The Northwestern State Athletic Department announced a handful of promotions across the department on Monday afternoon.
 
Jason Pugh, Martin Iddon, Brittany Pajuluoma and Scott Maggio will all have new titles and responsibilities entering the 2024-25 competition year, according to Director of Athletics Kevin Bostian.
 
"All four of these people are deserving of their new titles and are extremely capable of handling the new challenges and opportunities that await," Bostian said. "They have worked alongside me each day since I arrived in February 2022, and I value the experience and expertise each brings to his or her specific department. 
 
"Their familiarity with Northwestern State and the athletic department will bring stability to our staff and allow us to continue to flourish as we enter a new academic and athletic year. They have earned their stripes, and I look forward to seeing them continue to grow in their careers within their new respective positions."
 
Pugh, who took over the reins of the sports information office in May 2019, has been elevated to associate athletic director for external operations.
 
He will continue to serve in his role as the mouthpiece of the NSU athletic department while overseeing various departments within athletic administration including marketing, fundraising, ticketing and the N-Club, the hub for Demon student-athlete alumni.
 
Pugh will use his wealth of knowledge and experience to lead the charge in the promotion and support of current student-athletes while serving as a connector to the legacy of athletes and people that helped build Northwestern State athletics through the years. He will also serve as the sport administrator for NSU baseball.
 
Iddon has been elevated to assistant athletic director for facilities and event management at NSU, the same office where he began his career as an intern and graduate assistant. 
 
He will continue to oversee event and game operations for all athletic and university events held within NSU's athletic facilities and manage both practice and competition schedules for the athletic department. 
 
Iddon has played a vital role in recent facility upgrades at NSU, including the installation of new LED lights in Prather Coliseum and Turpin Stadium, the latter of which will make their debut during the 2024 football season. He has also served as a point of contact for the construction of the David and Sherry Morgan Health Performance Center that began during the spring of 2024.
 
Brittany Pajuluoma, née Goldberg, a member of the NSU athletic training staff for the past six years, has served as the primary athletic trainer for Demon baseball and an assistant on football for the past four seasons. She has been elevated to assistant to the athletic director sports medicine and will continue her role working in the athletic training department, while also serving as the Demon's Senior Woman Administrator.
 
She played a vital role in helping NSU's 14-sport department navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, including developing and implementing testing and quarantine protocols that aligned with regional and national standards.
 
As the SWA, the highest-ranking female involved with the management of the athletic department, Pajuluoma will be a member of NSU's athletics management team and have enhanced responsibilities related to decision-making for the athletic program and the overall direction of both men's and women's programs at Northwestern State. 
 
She will serve as a point of contact for all student-athletes to bring concerns and a role model resource for everyone in the athletic department.
 
She will also have oversight of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) at NSU as well as sport administration duties of NSU soccer and softball.
 
Maggio has been promoted to assistant athletic director for development/corporate sponsorships after spending the past two years as NSU's director of ticket operations and annual fund. 
 
During that time, he helped increase gate sales for both men's and women's basketball by over 200 percent for the 2022-23 season after seeing a 15 percent bump in season-ticket sales and 60 percent for gate ticket sales for baseball in his first year in the role. 
 
He coordinated the largest giving day in NSU Athletics history this past May with a record $345,817 in donations and played a role in landing the largest single gift in NSU Athletics history – a $1.5 million donation from David and Sherry Morgan.
 
In his new role, Maggio will strengthen and foster relationships with regional and national brands and organizations with the purpose of helping to provide NSU's student-athletes with the resources needed to compete for conference championships on a yearly basis. He will also oversee growing NSU's Demon's Unlimited Foundation that provides scholarship dollars for both current and incoming student-athletes, along with supporting and fueling the department across many critical avenues.