VERMILLION – University of South Dakota deputy athletics director Mike West announced the promotion of Kelsey Bathke to Assistant Athletic Director, Marketing & Fan Engagement and the hiring of Jarren Duffy as the Director of Athletic Marketing & Promotions.
 Duffy, a native of Huron, is a two-time graduate of USD. He double-majored as an undergraduate earning a bachelor of business administration in marketing and a bachelor of science in sport marketing and media in May of 2017.
He completed his master of arts in communications this past May, which he began as a graduate assistant in the USD marketing office.
“I couldn’t be more excited to return to my alma mater,” Duffy said. “This is a special place that I am honored to be a part of. I look forward to growing the South Dakota brand and building a championship culture here in Vermillion.”
Duffy spent the past year as an associate for athletics marketing at Iowa State. He oversaw the marketing, fan engagement, sponsorship activation, gameday presentation and promotional efforts for the Cyclones’ soccer, gymnastics and softball teams. He also managed gameday experiences for football and men’s basketball.

Under his watch, soccer and gymnastics attendance increased by more than 10 percent while softball set a program record for total season and average game attendance.
He also planned and created content for the Cyclone athletic social media accounts, ranking in the top-10 of all Power 5 schools in total interactions from October 2018 to March 2019.
He began his marketing career at USD as a graduate assistant working directly with soccer, softball and track & field while assisting in all Coyote sports. He also worked with the USD marketing office as a student including coordination of gameday presentation during the 2016 Summit League Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Bathke has been with USD since January as the director of video production. In her new role, she will oversee marketing and ticketing along with retaining her day-to-day responsibilities of overseeing athletic video production.
“It’s a really exciting time to be a part of Coyote Athletics,” Bathke said. “Vermillion provides an incredible sense of community and I’m very proud of the continued opportunity to grow at USD. We have an amazing group of new staff and we all truly possess a passion for this place. Because of that, I believe we will be unstoppable. I’m so lucky to be able to continue to call USD home.”
Prior to USD athletics, the Mitchell, South Dakota, native spent three years at Maryland as the assistant director of video production. She planned, executed and reviewed all creative video content for social media, in-venue and web distribution. She also traveled with the Terrapins’ men’s basketball, football and volleyball teams to shoot competition footage.
A 2015 graduate of Nebraska, Bathke interned with HuskerVision, Nebraska’s video department, and worked directly with the Husker women’s basketball and volleyball programs to create content.