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Adam Levin – Brandeis University, Sports Information Director

CoSIDA 25-Year Award

by Tim Farrell – University Athletic Association Sports Information Director

For 2021 CoSIDA 25-Year Award recipient Adam Levin, his experience at the NCAA Division III soccer semifinals in 2016 served as both one of the most memorable events of his career and a microcosm of the sports information profession. That year, both the Brandeis University women’s and men’s teams, each under the tutelage of legendary coaches, advanced to their respective Final Four championships.

“From the community service events, to team practices, to going back and forth between the two teams, it was non-stop, but in a great way,” Levin recalled. “It spoke to everything in this profession. It was a ton of work, but to have an experience like that made it all worth it.”

Levin’s interest in sports information began as a undergraduate at Brandeis.

Adam Levin with wife Joy and son Drew at the New Jersey Shore in 2019.

“I walked into the Brandeis athletic department and asked to be the manager for the baseball team. I was the scorekeeper for my high school’s team and wanted to volunteer,” noted Levin, who is finishing his 19th year at his alma mater. ”Then-Brandeis Sports Information Director Jack (Molloy) said he needed someone to help out with other teams also. They offered me a work study job.”

Levin spent seven years there before Molloy let him know he was taking a high school athletic director position.

“I did want to get back to Brandeis if I were given the opportunity, but I thought I would probably hit another stop before going back there,” Levin stated.

Levin appreciates being at Brandeis, not only for the familiarity of returning to his alma mater, but because of the athletic department’s flexibility for life events. For Levin, this included a trip to California to compete on the popular game show Jeopardy! His appearance on the show in April 2019 was quite memorable. Levin established a record for the highest runner-up score in the history of the show, finishing with $53,999 – coming up just $18 short of his top-notch opponent James Holzhauer, one of the program’s all-time champions.

The appearance was a dream come true for Levin, who got his start in competitive trivia as an undergrad at Brandeis as a member of the Brandeis College Bowl team (now called Quiz Bowl).

In interviews with Boston-area media following his showing at Jeopardy!, Levin noted that “Knowing I could go toe-to-toe with him is a great feeling! My once-in-a-lifetime story doesn’t have quite the ending I always dreamed about, but I’m exceptionally proud of my showing. I’ve seen it time and again with the student-athletes that I cover - sometimes, you can give your all-out best, and it’s just not enough. But if you left everything out on the field - or stage, in my case - it’s all you can ask for.”

In Levin’s tenure, one of the highlights has been Brandeis hosting the NCAA Fencing Championship, a predominantly Division I event, in 2004 and 2016.

“Being a small college and being able to host the Penn States, Notre Dames, and Ohio States of the world, and to be on a similar level as they are, is special. We want to show that we deserve to host and run it as well as any big school does,” Levin commented. “We like to think that we have been just as successful with half the size in terms of staffing and facilities.”

One of the things Levin is particularly proud of is receiving the ECAC Irving T. Marsh Award in 2020. This award is presented annually to an EAST-COMM (formerly ECAC-SIDA) member who has exhibited excellence in the field of sports information.

“Between Jack (Molloy) and me, Brandeis has only had two SIDs in 35 years and we are the first small college with multiple Marsh Award recipients. I think that speaks to the place Brandeis is,” Levin concluded. “It is the kind of place where people like working and like each other, an environment it has fostered over the years. When we see our student-athletes succeed and see their hard work pay off, it makes all the work we do worth it.”

Gallery: (6-25-2021) Adam Levin, 25-Year Award

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