Rick Bentley is in his second stint in athletics, this time as the director of athletics communications and digital media.
Bentley has been at the school since August 1996, the first 17 of which saw him in the very similar position of sports information director and assistant athletics director.
Bentley wrapped up a 10-year career as assistant professor of sport management in the university's Coleman College of Business in May 2023.
Bentley has spent the last 35 years covering sports on the local, regional, state and national scene. In May 1989, two weeks after graduating from Pikeville College with a degree in Business Administration emphasizing management, he was hired as sports editor of the Appalachian News-Express in Pikeville.
After spending six and a half years in that position, he spent eight months in the furniture industry before accepting the position of sports information director at Pikeville College. In his time in athletics, the department grew from six sports to more than 20.
Among the highlights of that time was the beginning of football at the school, two USBC national championships in women's bowling and the 2011 NAIA Division I men's basketball national championship. On the basketball title game, Bentley was the play-by-play announcer on the local radio broadcast.
For the last 30 years, he has written a weekly sports column for the News-Express. He has been honored three times by the Kentucky Press Association for his columns, twice in sports and once in the general single-subject category.
In his time as sports information director, he was named the winner of the Bill Sergent Award, given for the SID of the Year, four times by the Mid-South Conference.
During his time as a faculty member, he was named to the inaugural all-conference faculty team by the Mid-South Conference and, in 2022, was named faculty person of the year by the University of Pikeville Department of Athletics.
In addition to his undergraduate degree from Pikeville, Bentley holds a Master of Science degree in sport management from Morehead State University.
Rick is an active member of Unity Freewill Baptist Church, where he serves as treasurer and a teacher of the Bible. In the past, he served four years as Sunday School superintendent.
Rick lives at Rockhouse in Pike County with his wife Marsha and their son, Chance.
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