Ohio State athletics are on a tear, hanging Big Ten and national championship banners in everything from football, wrestling, women's rowing and even synchronized swimming in recent years.
The man at the top of the department earned the highest recognition possible in college athletics administration Monday.
The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) dubbed Gene Smith their 50th recipient of the James J. Corbett Memorial Award, given to the college administrator who "through the years has most typified Corbett's devotion to intercollegiate athletics and worked unceasingly for its betterment."
The award has been presented annually since 1967 in honor of Corbett, the former LSU athletic director and first president of the NACDA.