NCCU Athletics Director McCree Appointed To NCAA Division I Council

Indianapolis. Ind. – North Carolina Central University Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree has been selected to serve on the NCAA Division I Council, a high-level group responsible for the day-to-day decision-making for Division I.

Athletics directors, athletics administrators, senior women administrators, faculty athletics representatives and student-athletes serve on the 40-member Council, with representation from every Division I conference. McCree’s appointment term runs through June 2019, at which time she will be eligible for reappointment.

During her distinguished career in athletics administration, McCree has served in a variety of leadership positions in both conference and national level organizations. Among them, she was president of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Executive Board from 2004-06, becoming only the second woman to ever hold that position in the league’s history, and was a member of the NCAA’s Division II Legislation Committee from 2003-07.

About Ingrid Wicker McCree

Ingrid Wicker McCree, Ed.D. was appointed as the Director of Athletics at North Carolina Central University on April 23, 2008, after holding the interim position for five months. She officially began her new leadership role on May 1, 2008.

McCree, who joined the rank of only a handful of women athletic directors in the UNC system, previously served as NCCU’s Associate Athletics Director for Internal Affairs. Prior to her appointment as Director of Athletics, she served in a variety of leadership positions in both conference and national level organizations, most notably as president of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Executive Board from 2004-06, becoming only the second woman to ever hold that position in the league’s history. In addition, she served as a member of the NCAA’s Division II Legislation Committee from 2003-07.

In recognition of her work, McCree received the CIAA Leadership Award for Service as president of the Executive Board and was named the CIAA Senior Woman Administrator of the Year in the spring of 2006.

McCree was one of the driving forces behind NCCU’s reclassification to NCAA Division I. From 1998 until her appointment as Director of Athletics in 2008, she oversaw the internal operations of the Athletics Department, including all compliance and eligibility programs.

McCree began her career at NCCU as the head coach for women’s volleyball and softball. She became the first coach in NCCU history to win conference championships in multiple sports, capturing the school’s first-ever CIAA titles in softball (1998) and volleyball (1999, 2004, 2005).

A three-time CIAA Volleyball Coach of the Year (1999, 2002, 2005) and former member of the NCAA Division II National Volleyball Committee, McCree earned 239 match victories in 12 seasons as head volleyball coach at NCCU. She was also inducted into the NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 as head coach of the 1998 softball team. McCree was selected for induction into the CIAA John B. McLendon Hall of Fame in February 2016. 

A native of Durham and graduate of C.E. Jordan High School, McCree played on two North Carolina high school state volleyball championship teams, while also lettering in basketball and track and field. She continued her volleyball playing career as a student-athlete at George Washington University, lettering four seasons (1985-88) on the GWU volleyball team. She was a three-year starter and a team captain as a senior. In February 2012, she was inducted into the GWU Athletic Hall of Fame.

McCree earned her undergraduate degree in criminal justice from George Washington University in 1989, and a master’s degree in recreation resources administration from North Carolina State University in December 1991. She also completed doctoral studies in higher education administration at North Carolina State University in June 2008.

On April 20, 2010, McCree was presented with the Outstanding Alumnus Award from North Carolina State University’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management.

In July 2014, the Women Leaders in College Sports announced McCree as the recipient of its 2014 NCAA Division I FCS Administrator of the Year Award.

In the fall of 2015, she was appointed to the board of advisors for the Center for Research in Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The CRIA facilitates data-driven decision making and practices in intercollegiate athletics.

In 2017, McCree was named to the NCAA Division I Council, a high-level group responsible for the day-to-day decision-making for Division I.

McCree began her coaching career as a graduate assistant coach for the women’s volleyball program at N.C. State (1989-90). She then spent two seasons (1992-93) as head volleyball coach and student-athlete academic counselor at North Carolina A&T State University before returning to her hometown to begin her NCCU tenure in August 1994.

McCree has been involved as a player and coach in the USA Volleyball Carolina Region. She also served as director of three USAV Junior Olympic Teams (ages 18, 16, 14 and under) and director of the Y.M.C.A. Middle School Girls’ Volleyball Camp (ages 10-14).

McCree and her husband, Geno McCree, a three-sport collegiate student-athlete and 1991 graduate of Elon University, are the proud parents of Alexia, Quinton and Sydney.

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