BEAUMONT, Texas – Tim McMurray, and his wife Vickie, have made a donation to Lamar University announced LU Director of Athletics Jeff O'Malley Wednesday evening. The donation will be used for capital and technological improvements to the LU athletic media relations department.
 
"We are extremely grateful for Tim and Vickie's generous gift," said O'Malley. "During his time at Lamar, Tim had the opportunity to work in our sports information office and work with individuals who had a strong impact on him and his career. Their desire to continue to support Lamar University and inspire others who have also been positively impacted by Lamar means so much to our department."
 
The gift is in honor of five decades of leadership within the LU Sports Information/Media Relations office. During that time, four individuals held the title of director which includes Joe Lee Smith, Rush Wood, Daucy Crizer and Erik Cox. Both Smith and Wood are recipients of the Big Red Award in the Cardinals Hall of Honor.
 
During their time with Lamar, these individuals have covered numerous conference championships across all sports, deep NCAA tournament runs in baseball, men's and women's basketball and men's golf, as well working with Hall of Fame coaches like Vernon Glass, Jim Gilligan, Billy Tubbs and Pat Foster.
 
McMurray, a former associate sports information director at LU, spent eight years in the Cardinal media relations office (known as sports information at the time) originally getting his start as a student assistant before being hired full time and eventually serving as associate director of the office overseeing men's basketball.
 
"As a proud Lamar alumnus, it is a privilege for Vickie and me to make a commitment to honor these four elite individuals," said McMurray. "Not only do I feel blessed to call them friends, but they have each had a unique and tremendous impact on my professional development. From Rush hiring me as a student assistant in 1988, Joe Lee giving me my first full-time opportunity four years later and then being empowered by then AD Mike O'Brien to hire Daucy to lead the office in 1996 and then watch Erik evolve into leading the office stirs many positive emotions for me. Further, the leadership of James Dixon over the last decade has positioned the media relations department for continued success."
 
McMurray transitioned from sports information following the 1995-96 season and was named Assistant AD for External Relations, a position he held for the next four years. McMurray brought Crizer onboard to lead the sports information office in 1996, and Crizer hired Cox as his assistant who would eventually go on to direct the office prior to the start of the 2012-13 season.
 
Over the course of McMurray's career, he has held senior administrative roles at Texas State, Northern Illinois, SMU and Maryland and was eventually named Director of Athletics at Texas A&M-Commerce where he stayed through 2022.
 
"The timing of this gift also reflects an investment in the vision of Jeff O'Malley as our director of athletics," said McMurray. "During this process, I have gained tremendous respect for him as an outstanding ambassador for Cardinal Athletics and our institution. We appreciate the opportunity to play a small part in the upcoming renaissance for Lamar Athletics, and we encourage other LU alumni to do the same. Lamar did so much for me as a student in many ways, and it is still an honor to say 'Go Big Red!'"