Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione. Image via static.newsok.biz

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Fresh off the presses, word is the Joe Castiglione has been named the NCAA Athletic Director of the Year. I'll run a few excerpts by you, and they'll be lifted from this well written Sooner Sports press release.

With a Heisman Trophy winner, the recipient of both the Wooden and Naismith Awards and seven Big 12 Players of the Year, it has been a banner year for Oklahoma's Athletics Department. The leader of that department, Joe Castiglione, added to the hardware Thursday night when he was named Athletics Director of the Year at the Sports Business Awards in New York City.

It is true that the Oklahoma athletic teams have enjoyed a ton of success this year. Here's a small cross section of those accomplishments:

• Heisman Trophy winner (Sam Bradford)
• Wooden Award winner and Naismith Award winner (Blake Griffin)
• Seven Big 12 Players of the Year in different sports.
• Football team reaches the national championship game.
• Women's basketball team reaches the Final Four
• Men's basketball team reaches the Elite Eight
• Four Sooner athletic teams won Big 12 Championships

This is just another prestigious award that Castiglione has received lately:

The OU Athletics Department was recognized in 2007 with the prestigious PRISM Award, which annually recognizes one Division I intercollegiate athletics department that demonstrates industry-leading excellence and innovation in sports management.

All in all, a good year for OU sports, and they aren't done yet! A big congratulations to Joe Castiglione for the award and a thank you for all that he does!