Derrick Sloboda - Assistant Athletic Director for Media Services (MSOC, MBB) - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Derrick Sloboda

Title:
Assistant Athletic Director for Media Services (MSOC, MBB)
Email:
Phone:
(260) 481-0729

The 2025-26 academic year is Derrick Sloboda's 10th as Purdue Fort Wayne’s Assistant Athletic Director for Media Services. It will be his 19^th year in college athletics communications.

Sloboda’s first year was highlighted by men’s basketball’s home victory over No. 3 Indiana. The win earned international media coverage including a pair of ESPN SportsCenter interviews. Preparation for the event resulted in a record number of media credentials issued. The following the season the Mastodons again received national coverage thanks to a win at Indiana.

During his time in Fort Wayne, Sloboda has expanded video streaming to include all home events, including track and field meets. The 2018-19 season saw multi-camera productions brought to soccer, baseball and softball for the first time. In 2020-21 the Mastodons joined the Horizon League. Sloboda organized the announcement of the entrance into the new league. He also organized a build out at the Hefner Soccer Stadium to accommodate ESPN+ streaming. Since joining the Horizon League, the Mastodons have produced some of the best ESPN+ broadcasts in the league.

Prior to his arrival in the Summit City, Sloboda spent nine years as an athletic communications professional in the Chicago area. He served for seven total seasons as the assistant director of athletic communications for NCAA Division II Lewis University. The Flyers finished No. 4 and No. 6 in the nation, respectively, in 2015 and 2016 in the Learfield Directors' Cup rankings. Lewis women's basketball and men's volleyball both reached No. 1 in the nation during his time in Romeoville. His publicity of a buzzer beater landed the top spot on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 plays in December 2015.

From 2012-14, Sloboda guided the sports information department for NCAA Division I Chicago State University. His redesigned GoCSUCougars.com website saw a 39.2 percent increase in visits and 31.5 percent improvement in page views during his two years at Chicago State. Sloboda earned coverage on CBS 2, ABC 7, FOX 32 and WGN 9 as the CSU men's basketball squad received the program's first postseason bid and entered the Western Athletic Conference.

Additionally, Sloboda served as the sports information director for the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association for five seasons starting in 2015.

Sloboda graduated from Indiana University in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in sports management and a minor in business. Before entering collegiate sports, Sloboda worked in the league office of arenafootball2 and spent several seasons helping on game days for the Chicago Rush Arena Football League team.