Brad Horton joined the Georgia State staff in January 2014 in the position of Associate A.D. for Student-Athlete Development and currently serves as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Academics and Student-Athlete Development.
In his current role, Horton serves as the sport administrator for women’s track & field, cross country, and football, while overseeing the P.A.S.S. staff, including eight full-time academic coordinators, two learning specialists, and 16 assistant academic coordinators/assistant learning specialists while guiding the support programs for all 16 sports and four academic centers. He works directly with coaches on student-athlete enrollment and retention, eligibility, academic progression towards graduation, and transition from college athletics to career.
Serving as a member of President Dr. Brian Blake’s GSU Athletic Association, GSU Admission and Standards Committee, GSU Senate Committee on Athletics, and the Athletic Department’s Senior Leadership Team, Horton is charged with ensuring the graduation of student-athletes, providing an unmatched student-athlete experience, and fostering a culture of success.
With Horton leading the Office of Academic Support and Student-Athlete Development (P.A.S.S.), Georgia State recently recorded its 32nd consecutive semester with an average GPA of 3.0 or better. This past academic year (2023-2024), Panther student-athletes compiled a 3.25 cumulative GPA, with 200-plus Panther’s student-athletes at or above a 3.0 and 93 student-athletes recording a perfect 4.0 during the academic year. Also, 13 of the Panthers’ 16 teams were above a 3.0 GPA.
2023-24 P.A.S.S. HIGHLIGHTS
Fall 2022 3.68 GPA cumulative department academic term GPA for women’s sports is highest to date.
Spring 2023 Baseball 3.30 GPA was the program's highest mark on record.
2022-23 GSU posted a cumulative departmental GPA of 3.34, the highest mark in the Sun Belt Conference.
2023-24 Men’s Tennis was the Male Team GPA Winner, 3.77 GPA.
2023-24 Women’s Tennis was the Female Team GPA Winner, 3.92 GPA.
2023-24 GSU posted a cumulative departmental GPA of 3.25.
2023-24 Graduated 100 percent of the senior cohort in the 2023-2024 academic year.
APR & GSR Exceeded NCAA benchmarks and awarded the Sun Belt Conference student-athlete graduation and academic award.
Nationally, Horton served on the National Association of Athletic Academic Advisors (N4A), as Chair of the Ethnic Concerns Committee (2016-2017), recently served as the N4A Director of Region II (2017-2019), and Chair of the Sun Belt Conference Academics Committee (2018-2019). In addition, Horton serves on the NCAA Division I Progress Toward Degree Waivers Committee for a five-year term.
Before his return to his home state, Horton spent 2011-13 at Florida State working directly with the top-ranked Seminoles’ football program as Assistant A.D. for Student-Athlete Academic Services. He first served as an Academic Program Specialist with the FSU football team starting in 2011 before being named Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Academic Services/Director of Football Advising in March 2013. Horton supervised a staff of six who coordinated academic compliance, monitored NCAA eligibility, and ensured institutional policy was followed. He collaborated directly with the university Department of Admissions regarding football student-athlete admissions while coordinating and overseeing the support of all football-related academic advisement and counseling.
Before joining the Seminoles’ staff, Horton was an academic coordinator/learning specialist at Miami (Ohio) from 2009 to 2011. He was the academic liaison for eight teams including football and men’s and women’s basketball and served as a monitor for all teams with regard to GPA, APR (Academic Progress Rate), and GSR (Graduation Success Rate).
Before Miami (Ohio), Horton was selected as one of 18 interns nationally for the NCAA’s internship program with the Student-Athlete Development group immediately following two years as a graduate assistant with Academic Services in the Mississippi State Athletics Department.
A native of Columbus, Ga., Horton earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mississippi State in 2006 and a master’s in sports management in 2008. Horton was a four-year letterman in football for the Bulldogs, including serving as a team captain during his senior year.
