ECC Adds James Wagner as Director of Communications

COLONIA, N.J. – The East Coast Conference (ECC) and Commissioner Jessica Grasso have announced the hiring of James Wagner as Director of Communications. Wagner, who has 20 years of experience in collegiate athletics, will begin his tenure with the ECC on January 2.  In his role as the conference’s Director of Communications, Wagner will oversee the day-to-day publicity and communication efforts and assist in managing the championships of the ECC's 20 Division II sports. Wagner will also coordinate weekly awards, statistics, and records, assist in developing and implementing the conference's digital and social media strategy, and maintain the ECC's official website, ECCSports.org.  “I am excited to welcome James to the ECC staff as our Director of Communications," said Grasso. "He brings extensive experience and a commitment to excellence that will make it easy for him to transition into the role and make an immediate impact for our membership.”  Wagner joins the ECC staff by way of Stevenson University, where he served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications from March 2023 through September 2025. In that role, Wagner directed enterprise-wide communications strategy for 29 NCAA Division III programs, partnered with senior leadership to enhance donor engagement and alumni outreach through targeted campaign, and increased social media engagement by 85 percent through data-driven content and video storytelling. He also chaired the Middle Atlantic Conference Sports Information Directors Committee, setting conference-wide communications standards. Simultaneously, Wagner was a communications consultant with the Atlantic East Conference from August 2024 through June 2025, where he developed and executed strategic communications plans for seven member institutions to strengthen conference visibility, produced and distributed weekly media releases and award announcements, and streamlined workflows.  "I'm very thankful to Commissioner Grasso and the ECC staff for selecting me to fill this role," said Wagner. "I am very excited to return to a conference office setting and help grow the brand of the East Coast Conference, while telling the stories of its outstanding and hard-working student-athletes." As Cabrini University’s Director of Athletic Communications from September 2022 through March 2023, Wagner directed PR, digital content, and social strategy for 20 NCAA Division III programs and increased online engagement by 50 percent through multimedia storytelling and targeted campaigns.  Wagner spent six years as the Assistant Commissioner at the Colonial States Athletic Conference from June 2016 through September 2022. There, he served as point contact for member institutions in the areas of NCAA rules, conference scheduling and general questions, led the All-Conference selection and end-of-the year coaches calls, assisted in school conference members with game-day operations, and served as the CSAC representative at Championship events. Wagner maintained and guided the conference through a website redesign, was a key member of the CSAC Covid-19 Return to Play committee, and produced fresh content for the CSAC website during the pause from games while administering weekly awards and social media posts. He was also a member of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee for women's volleyball and served as the site rep at two championship events in that stretch. Prior to joining the staff at the CSAC, Wagner spent eight years as the Director of Athletic Communications at Ursinus College. In that role, he was the main point of contact for 25 Division III sports, including football. He maintained and created content both for the website and social media accounts while also providing statistical assistance for all home games and created the Ursinus College Network, the athletic department's web streaming presence.  Wagner also had a two-year stint as the Sports Information Director at Holy Family University and oversaw their 14 sports programs. He also had stops at Widener University and Albright College. Wagner earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Susquehanna in 2001. He is the father of two boys, Chase and Connor. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, Dr. Ashley Wagner, who is the Director of Athletics at nearby Notre Dame of Maryland University and their two dogs, Finn and Grace.
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