Jake Ayers enters his first year at the University of La Verne in 2025-26 as the Deputy Director of Athletics.
In this role, Ayers oversees the department’s day-to-day operations and collaborates closely with the Director of Athletics and University leadership to provide strategic direction and advance the vision and initiatives of the Department of Athletics. He serves as the sport administrator for several of La Verne’s 18 varsity programs, maintains internal and external departmental operations, and acts as the primary liaison to campus departments and offices that support and partner with La Verne Athletics.
Ayers comes to La Verne after three years as Assistant Commissioner for both the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) and the United East Conference. Ayers worked with the league office in all aspects of conference operations including governance, compliance, championships, communications, awards, historical records, and the league’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Before joining the CSAC and United East, Ayers was the Director of Athletic Facilities and Sport Operations for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) overseeing the campus athletic facilities, game-day operations, camps and clinics, facility upgrades, and branding enhancements for CMS. Additionally, he had oversight of postseason competitions on campus including SCIAC and NCAA Championships.
While in Claremont, Ayers led the CMS senior leadership team in the bidding process for NCAA Division III Championship Site Selections where CMS was awarded hosting rights for the 2023 Women’s Volleyball Championships, 2025 Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships, and 2026 Women’s Golf Championships.
As a coach, Ayers spent 15 seasons in the dugout coaching baseball at CMS, Pomona-Pitzer, Juniata College, and Knox College. On the field, Ayers was a part of staff whose players earned multiple all-conference awards, seventeen all-region selections, seven Players of the Year, four all-Americans, two MLB signees, and one student-athlete who helped Team Israel qualify for the 2020 Olympics. Additionally, he was an instructor at camps and clinics including Stanford, USC, UCLA, and Penn State.
Nationally, Ayers has served on the NCAA Division III Baseball Committee, Men’s Lacrosse Regional Advisory Committee, and served as a tournament director at the 2018 NCAA Division III Men’s & Women’s Tennis Championships.
As a student-athlete, Ayers was a four-year starter on the Knox College baseball team and starred with the Prairie Fire football team while on campus. He spent three seasons in professional baseball: spending one season in the Israel Baseball League and two with the Lincoln Saltdogs of Lincoln, Nebraska, winning two championships in that time.
Ayers is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and an honoree in the American Legion Post 140 Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ayers earned his bachelor’s degree from Knox College and a master’s degree from Concordia University-Irvine.
