Army West Point Black Knights Officially Names New Athletic Director

The Army West Point Black Knights have opted to hire from within to replace former athletic director Mike Buddie.

Nov 4, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Detailed view of a Army Black Knights helmet before the game against the Air Force Falcons at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Army West Point Black Knights officially named Tom Theodorakis as its new athletic director on Thursday, in an announcement on social media and on its web site.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Wednesday that Theodorakis was the likely hire to replace Mike Buddie, who took the same job at TCU at the first of the year.

The elevation of Theodorakis ended what Army termed a nationwide search for its 31st athletic director, who joined the Black Knights three years ago from Harvard.

His primary experience has been in external operations and in fundraising, as he was critical helping to raise money for the Michie Stadium Preservation Project.

This will be his first time as an athletic directory.

"It is both an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to serve as the director of athletics at Army West Point," said Theodorakis via a release. "I look forward to contributing to the academy's mission of developing leaders of character while instilling the values of Duty, Honor, Country. There's tremendous momentum within our department, and I am excited to help Army West Point Athletics reach even greater heights."

He joined the Black Knights in 2022 when he was hired to be the senior associate athletics director for external operations. In 2024 he was promoted to deputy athletic director for external operations and chief revenue officer.

In external operations, he supervised strategic communication, licensing, branding, business development and revenue generation. He was also the sport administrator for men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse. He was also a member of the Army-Navy Game steering committee.

Theodorakis also supported Buddie and the athletic department in securing the funding for the renovation of Michie Stadium’s east stands, which is set to be completed before the 2026 football season. That included securing private funding for the initiative, which is a $170 million project that more than tripled the next largest gift-funded project in the academy's history.

"Theo has been an energizing force within Army Athletics and is the ideal candidate to continue leading our NCAA athletic programs," said Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland, superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, in the release.

Theodorakis’ experience comes in development and external relations. Before Army, he was senior associate director of development at Harvard for two years. With Arizona, he was the department’s associate athletics director for development. He served as the associate athletics director for external affairs at UCLA, and before that he was Arizona’s assistant athletics director for development.

He started his athletics career with Air Force in its marketing and development office and a volunteer coach with the men’s lacrosse team.

Theodorakis was a four-year letterwinner at Syracuse, where he was a member of the Orange’s 2004 national championship team and earned a degree in communications.

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