Conference USA Welcomes Five New Staff Members

Aug. 14, 2012

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky announced today the hiring of four full-time staff members along with a new intern in the sports services department.

Complete New Staff Release

William Draper and Stacie Erfle will join the C-USA Digital Network as producer and coordinator, respectively. Draper, a 2009 graduate of Baylor with a degree in business media, comes to Conference USA and the Digital Network following jobs as a web producer at the University of Houston and the Big 12 Conference. He will produce the majority of Digital Network content, including the league's public service announcements and the weekly C-USA Showcase that will air on various FSN affiliates.

Draper was a four-year member on the Baylor baseball team, and also served as a production assistant for Baylor Vision while a student. He also earned a certification in graphic design from SMU. While in Houston, Draper also refined his skills as a game day producer for the Houston Dynamo and was on the team that produced all the video boards at the NCAA Final Four Bracket Town in 2011.

Erfle will serve as host of the C-USA Digital Network programming, including coverage from most C-USA Championships throughout the year. Erfle arrives at Conference USA after spending three years as a sports anchor and reporter for WABG-TV, the ABC affiliate in Greenville, Miss. There she hosted a variety of programming from High School Game Day Live and Sunday Night Sports Review, as well as Outdoor Sports with Stacie Erfle.

A native of Auburn, Wash., she graduated in August 2007 from Western Washington with a bachelor's degree in communications with minors in journalism and Spanish. While a student, Erfle interned with the Seattle NBC affiliate and the Western Washington student television station.

Chris Grant was named Director of Sports Services and will serve as the primary sport administrator for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's golf and men's and women's track & field. He will also serve as the liaison to the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Grant comes to C-USA from Wright State University, where he was Assistant Athletics Director for the Raiders. He also spent three years at WSU as the Special Assistant to the Athletic Director. At WSU, Grant oversaw student-athlete housing, student-athlete development, SAAC, athletic department special events and was responsible for secondary oversight of the men's golf and women's track and field programs. He also assisted the Director of Athletics with capitol campaign projects, special projects, and analytical research information. A 2004 graduate of Kentucky State with a bachelor's degree in public administration, Grant was a free safety for the Thorobreds football team. He earned a master's degree in public administration with a concentration in finance from Southern in 2006.

Sara Sjuts started earlier this month as the Executive Assistant to the Commissioner. Sjuts graduated magna cum laude with a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska in 2004. She will assist the Commissioner and Executive Associate Commissioner, including preparation for various conference meetings and for national committee assignments held by the Commissioner and Executive Associate Commissioner.

While at Nebraska, she was the student assistant to the Director of Volleyball Operations. Following graduation, she was named the Director of Volleyball Operations at the University of Kentucky and served in that position for seven years before making the move to Dallas. Sjuts also received an MBA with a concentration on management in 2011 from Morehead State University.

Harrison Tassopoulos also joined the conference staff this month as an intern in the Sports Services Department. He is a native of Dallas, Texas, where he attended the St. Mark's School of Texas. Tassopoulos earned a bachelor's degree in legal studies and Spanish from Tulane University in 2011. While at Tulane, he was involved in New Student Orientation, Greek Life, the Academic Honor Board and Club Volleyball. Prior to joining Conference USA, Tassopoulos was an acquisitions analyst at a real estate investment company specializing in multifamily assets.