Law School Award Recipients
Charles W. Mentkowski Sports Law Alumnus of the Year Award
CRAIG A. PINTENS, LAW '01
Baton Rouge, La.
For Craig Pintens, there’s a fine line between a job and a dream. That’s because he has what many sports fans consider a dream job: assistant athletics director of marketing at Louisiana State University.
“I have the opportunity to see many of the iconic sports venues in the country — for work,” he says. “But the best part about working in college athletics is being surrounded by passionate people, whether it’s student-athletes, co-workers or fans.”
Before LSU, Craig was associate athletics director for marketing and sales at Marquette, where he helped set attendance and revenue records in men’s and women’s basketball and attendance records in volleyball and soccer.
Before helping set attendance records at Marquette, Craig set them at the University of Texas–Pan American as marketing coordinator, overseeing marketing affairs for 14 varsity sports. Under his direction, corporate sponsors rose 44 percent, and the first Spanish radio broadcast of Bronc athletics was negotiated.
Craig has received 15 awards from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators for his work in advertising, season ticket campaigns and corporate sponsorship.
Craig is as passionate about volunteering as he is about helping set attendance records. He’s active in his parish, St. George in Baton Rouge, and donates his time to charities, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America — on whose board of directors he has served — and the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Fun fact: When Craig was a boy, he wanted to be a basketball coach, just like his dad. It wasn’t until later that his dream morphed into a career path — helped along by Marquette — that led to his dream job. “Marquette’s sports law program is the best in the country,” he says. “It automatically gives me an advantage over others in my field.”
