A veteran of over 15 years in the athletic communications field, Eric Rhew joined the UNCW Athletics staff in October, 2014 as an assistant athletic communications director after two and a half years as the sports information and communications specialist at Goldey-Beacom College.
Rhew currently serves as the primary athletic communications contact for the Seahawks' men's and women's soccer, women's basketball, softball and women's golf programs. In addition, he is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Publications and Digital Design Contest Committee and the NCAA Media Coordination and Statistics Advisory Board.
In 2020-21, Rhew was recognized as the District 3 winner of CoSIDA's Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest for his general feature story (
The Pets of CoSIDA), marking his 10th career CoSIDA commendation.
Prior to joining the Seahawks, Rhew directed the media relations efforts for Goldey-Beacom College's 10 NCAA Division II teams. He also played an instrumental role in the athletics department’s rebranding efforts, including the launching of a redesigned website and new logos, while establishing the Lightning’s social media program.
In addition to his sports information duties, Rhew was involved with the Lightning’s day-to-day internal operations, including transportation, finance and scheduling.
Rhew spent nearly six years as an assistant director of media relations at Colonial Athletic Association rival Towson University before making the move to Goldey-Beacom. The Towson, Md., native served as the media relations contact for several of his alma mater's teams, including men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s lacrosse.
Rhew, a 2005 Towson graduate with a degree in Mass Communication, began his media relations career as an undergraduate assistant, helping the Tiger media relations staff with game-day responsibilities and publications. In 2002, he was honored as the University’s Student Employee of the Year and was a finalist for the award in 2003. He also served two seasons as the Director of Public Relations and Publications for the Baltimore Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) during his undergraduate career.
After graduation, Rhew joined the MLL staff as Director of Media Services before moving back to the Baltimore area to work at Loyola University Maryland to serve as the Media Coordinator in the Office of Athletic Communications. In addition to being the SID for several of the Greyhounds’ athletic teams, he was the radio play-by-play voice for the Loyola women’s basketball and women’s lacrosse teams.
However, Rhew returned to Towson nearly a year later, joining the Tigers’ Athletic Media Relations staff on a full-time basis.
Rhew was recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) nine times during his time at Towson. His 2011 Tiger women’s lacrosse media guide was ranked as the “Best in the Nation” while his 2009, 2010 and 2011 Tiger men’s lacrosse media guides were ranked “Second in the Nation.” In addition, the Tigers’ 2009 and 2010 women’s lacrosse media guides followed as “Third in the Nation.”
He also earned a citation from CoSIDA in 2007 as the Tiger volleyball media guide was ranked Second in the District by CoSIDA while he collaborated on the 2009 Tiger football media guide, which placed “Second in the Nation” among NCAA FCS schools.
Rhew was also named as the recipient of the Division I Women’s Lacrosse Media Services Award by Inside Lacrosse Magazine in 2007.
From 2008 to 2010, he was the host media coordinator for the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship, which was held at Johnny Unitas® Stadium on the Towson University campus.
Rhew is a member of CoSIDA, the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) and the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He will serve as NCCSIA's president during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years.
He currently resides in Wilmington, N.C. with his wife, Erin, along with their dog, Piper.
