TACOMA, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department announced the hiring of Adekale Ande as the Assistant Director of Sports Communication.

"I'm super pumped to start in this role and work with all the great student-athletes, coaches, and administrators at Pacific Lutheran. Luteville has a storied history of winning across their athletic programs and I can't wait to bring those stories to life," said Ande.
 
"I would like to thank Mark Albanese, Mike Snyder, and the rest of the PLU administration for the opportunity to continue to grow PLU athletics and for their continued support throughout this process." 

Ande previously served as the sports information manager at The Lovett School in Atlanta, overseeing all aspects of the school's athletic communications strategy. While there, Ande won 11 awards in the 2024 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Creative and Digital Design contest in the "Best of High School" Award Category. That included earning honors for posters, short-form videos/reels, long-form video recap, non-gameday graphics, hype pregame video/reel, and signing day packages. 

Prior to Lovett, Ande was a graduate assistant for two years at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University. While there, he helped the communications staff win the South Atlantic Conference Media Relations Staff of the Year during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Ande was the play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Hustle of the Ultimate Frisbee Association for five seasons. His talents were nationally recognized, earning two Top 10 play-by-play calls of the year by the Sportscaster Talent Agency of America, and had one call appear on ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 plays.  
 
He additionally was a marketing intern for the National Junior College Athletic Association and worked as a student at Berry, calling over 100 Viking games over his four years on campus. 

"We're excited to welcome Adekale to Luteville!" said Director of Sports Communication Mark Albanese. 
 
"Adekale has a proven track record as an award-winning storyteller with awesome graphic design, video, and broadcast experience. His skill set and energy will help our communications team provide an even better experience for our Lute student-athletes."
 
Ande earned a bachelor's of arts degree in communication: multimedia journalism from Berry College (Ga.) and a master's or arts in university leadership from Lenoir-Rhyne University (N.C.). While at Berry, Ande played for the College's ultimate team, helping the team win the DIII Southeast Regional and qualify for the club national championships. 
 
Ande replaces Chase Fisk who after two years in Luteville is now the Sports Information Director at Northwest Conference rival Linfield University.