Report: Mississippi State Hiring Brandon Lee as Associate Athletic Director

Lee, who was previously an assistant AD at Missouri, will be focusing on student athlete brand strategy and innovation at Mississippi State.

Sep 10, 2022; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of a Mississippi State Bulldogs helmet at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Mississippi State athletic program is reportedly hiring Brandon Lee as an associate athletic director, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

"Source: Mississippi State is hiring Brandon Lee as Associate AD for Student Athlete Brand Strategy and Innovation," Thamel wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Lee comes from Missouri, where he was Mizzou’s Assistant AD for NIL the last two years. He’s a former Missouri linebacker from 2014-18."

While at Missouri, Lee was responsible for leading the Tigers NIL program through visionary and impactful relationships, and education and programming that will benefit Mizzou student-athletes. He worked collaboratively with both internal and external constituents to best support student-athletes in the NIL space.

This addition to the program comes nearly one month after the Bulldogs hired Maya Bulger as an assistant AD/NIL Administration and Partnerships, which was a newly created role at the school. Bulger was the director of football NIL starting in July 2023 and had a similar role for two years prior at Illinois State. From July 2020 to May 2022, Bulger was an athletics development and special events graduate assistant.

Lee is a two-time Mizzou graduate, earning a bachelor's degree in personal finance in 2018 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 2020. The former football student-athlete (2014-18) served on the Southeastern Conference Leadership Council and took part in the 2018 NCAA Convention.

Since being named athletic director on Jan. 13, 2023, Zac Selmon has been aggressive with his plans to improve Mississippi State Athletics in every aspect.

In a recent two-part interview with 247sports, Selmon confirmed that the basketball and baseball programs are part of MSU's facilities master plan. On campus, there is constant construction to improve and expand campus life, and now with the expectations of sports rising, the sentiment is being felt by the AD.

The idea is to keep expanding like what was done with Dudy Noble and the most recent renovations of Humphrey Coliseum. During the season, construction was ongoing on the interior of "The Hump" and it has been confirmed that brand new locker rooms for the men's and women's teams will be complete and ready for the season. This is just the beginning of a "three-five year phase" that Selmon has planned for athletics.