Hall of Fame
A native of Buchanan, Mich., Joe Mitch of the Missouri Valley Conference is the 14th honoree in The Valley’s Lifetime Achievement category.
The Lifetime Achievement category honors, when appropriate, former players, coaches, administrators or alumni who competed, worked or attended a current league school.
Mitch started as assistant commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference in 1985 when the league office relocated to St. Louis from Tulsa, and was promoted to associate commissioner in 1988.
He served as the tournament director for the men’s basketball tournament from 1985 to 2012, including the first 22 Arch Madness events in St. Louis.
Mitch was the league administrator for the sport of baseball, where he served as tournament director, arranged league schedules and oversaw the assignment of umpires for league games.
He was also the primary staff contact for MVC Sports Properties, which handles television advertising and sponsorship sales for The Valley, and oversaw marketing and promotions for the Conference.
Mitch served as a member of the Local Organizing Committee for NCAA basketball tournaments in St. Louis and participated in a presentation to the NCAA that led to St. Louis being awarded the 2005 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four where he served as chair of the games management committee for the St. Louis Local Organizing Committee. Overall, he has been involved in various capacities in 38-straight NCAA Final Fours.
During his career, he was tournament manager of seven NCAA Tournaments (1993, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2007 and 2010 Midwest Regionals and the 2002 Midwest First/Second Rounds), local media coordinator for the 1978 NCAA Final Four in St. Louis and three Midwest Regionals (1975, 1979 and 1982) and worked numerous other NCAA basketball tournaments as a media relations specialist.
He was publicist for the 1983 Davis Cup tennis quarterfinals in St. Louis and the 1977 Intercontinental Cup basketball series for the U.S. squad that played games against national teams in Italy, Greece, Belgium, Israel, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.
Mitch was selected to serve as a media relations officer at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival in St. Louis. In 2013, he received the College Sports Information Directors of America Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to members who have served at least 25 years in the profession.
His professional career spans 45 years, most of which has been in intercollegiate athletics. Mitch served as assistant commissioner with the Metro Conference from 1976 to 1983 and held sports information positions at four institutions, including Illinois-Chicago (1968-70), Southern Illinois (1970-73), Dayton (1973-75) and Saint Louis (1975-76).
He acted as communications manager for the St. Louis-based Sports Time Cable Network from 1983-85 and briefly worked at Southwestern Bell Publications (1985) before joining the MVC.
A 1968 graduate of Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he also serves as executive director of the 900-member U.S. Basketball Writers Association – a position he’s held since 1983.