Whitfield to Replace Adams in NCHSAA Post

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Whitfield NCHSAA's hire to follow Adams

Davis Whitfield, an assistant commissioner for the Atlantic Coast Conference with ties to Campbell University, was named Thursday as the new executive director of the N.C. High School Athletic Association.

Whitfield, 39, will replace Charlie Adams, who has been executive director for the last 25 years and is scheduled to step down early next year.

Whitfield was appointed to Adams' position by Norm Lowenthal, director of the William Friday Center for Continuing Education at the University of North Carolina.

Whitfield was the first choice of a search and screening committee that had reviewed candidates for the job.

Stan Cole, sports information director at Campbell, worked with Whitfield during his years in an athletic administration position at the school.

"He's a North Carolina guy,'' Cole said of Whitfield, who is a native of Wayne County and graduate of Rosewood High School.

"Davis has a lot of different resources he can call on. He's not afraid to identify something that works and stick with it and he's not afraid to fix things that work, tweak them and make them better.''

All of Whitfield's work experience since graduating college has been at the college level.

Whitfield has served as director of championships for the ACC since 2002, coming to that position from a job as assistant athletic director for operations and facilities management at Wake Forest University.

He worked at Wake Forest for four years.

Whitfield was on the athletic staff at Campbell University from 1995-98, serving as assistant athletic director for operations and facilities.

He was an athletics administrative intern and athletics operations assistant at North Carolina from 1993-95.

Whitfield earned a B.A. from North Carolina in 1993, where he was a member of the school's baseball team. He received a Master of Arts in Sports Administration from UNC in 1995.

He spent two years at East Carolina as an undergraduate before transferring to UNC.

Sources said Whitfield was one of three finalists for the position being vacated by Adams. The others were Stewart Hobbs and Bill Steed.

Hobbs is currently a member of the NCHSAA Board of Directors and serves as superintendent of the Stokes County Schools. He previously worked in Cumberland County schools and was superintendent of Sampson County Schools.

Steed served 33 years in North Carolina schools and is the former superintendent of the Davie County schools. He is a former president of the NCHSAA.