March 17, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Brant Ust, a baseball Monogram winner and 2001 graduate of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, has been named executive director of the Notre Dame Monogram Club.
In addition to managing the Monogram Club’s staff, activities and membership outreach, Ust will collaborate closely with the Board of Directors to establish the Club’s priorities and goals. Additionally, he will oversee special events and reunions involving former student-athletes throughout the year.
Since 2010, Ust has worked with USA Baseball, where he serves as Director of the 18U National Team Program & Alumni Relations. Under his leadership, the 18U National Team won gold medals at the 2011 COPABE 18U Pan American Championships in Cartagena, Colombia, the 2012 IBAF 18U World Championships in Seoul, South Korea, and, most recently, at the 2013 IBAF 18U World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan.
Ust also worked to reconnect USA Baseball with its former players and coaches, while building awareness for the organization’s brand and future endeavors.
Ust helped organize the USA Baseball-Irish Classic, which Notre Dame has hosted at the USA Baseball National Training Complex each of the past two years in Cary, N.C.
Selected by the Detroit Tigers in the sixth round of the 1999 MLB draft, Ust enjoyed a nine-year professional baseball career with the Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners organizations. He was a member of USA Baseball’s 1998 Collegiate National Team and 2005 World Cup Team.
Before joining the USA Baseball staff, Ust previously served as an assistant baseball coach at the University of Michigan.
As an infielder at Notre Dame, Ust became one of the most decorated players in program history, earning BIG EAST Conference Rookie of the Year honors in 1997, while taking home the conference’s Player of the Year award in 1998. He also earned third-team All-America recognition from the ABCA, Baseball America and NCBWA. In 1999, he was named the team’s Monogram Club MVP.
A three-time BIG EAST first-team selection, Ust started 179 consecutive games, and finished his Irish career with a .368 batting average, 51 doubles, 46 home runs and 170 RBI.
A native of Redmond, Wash., Ust and his wife, Jessica, have two children, Gavin and Sullivan.
Ust replaces Beth Hunter, who had held the position since 2009. Hunter will transition out of her current role and assume new responsibilities within the athletic department, remaining engaged with the Monogram Club and providing management counsel and support, while continuing to serve as administrator for the 2013 national champion men’s soccer program.