Mary McElroy joined the Southland staff in May of 2025.
McElroy joins the Southland’s executive leadership team with oversight of all conference championships, excluding football. She will serve as the primary liaison for men’s and women’s basketball and lead strategic initiatives across all sports, focusing on student-athlete experience, officiating, scheduling, event operations, postseason success, and operating code enforcement.
McElroy brings more than two decades of leadership experience in collegiate athletics, most recently serving as Senior Associate Commissioner for Women’s Basketball at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Under her guidance, ACC institutions consistently secured at least seven NCAA Tournament berths annually, a testament to the league’s national prominence and depth.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, McElroy led the development and implementation of the ACC’s operational continuity plans, allowing basketball seasons to safely continue in 2021 and 2022. She also founded the East Coast Officials’ Consortium, raising the standard and consistency of officiating across the conference.
Her career includes leadership roles as Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director and SWA at Temple University, Director of Partner Services at the Collegiate Licensing Company, and Associate Director of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship, where she played a key role in the execution of the 2013 Women’s Final Four in New Orleans.
McElroy also held campus leadership positions at Georgia Tech, SMU, and Georgia State University, where she served as Director of Athletics from 2005 to 2008. At Georgia State, she launched the university’s first Division I football program, led its transition into the Colonial Athletic Association, and executed a department-wide strategic plan that set the foundation for future success.
In championship operations, McElroy has served as tournament manager for the 2003 NCAA Women’s Final Four and as a member of the Atlanta Local Organizing Committees for the NCAA Men’s Final Fours in 2002 and 2007.
She began her administrative career at the U.S. Naval Academy, eventually rising to Assistant Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator, overseeing NCAA compliance for 29 sports and developing the widely adopted “Daily Compliance Item.”
A former Division I varsity basketball player, McElroy is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where she earned her degree with merit. She went on to serve as a Supply Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Captain, and later completed her MBA at Georgia Tech in 2000.