Jacksonville University

Andy Heston was elevated to Associate AD for Student-Athlete Services in July 2021.

He retains his role as the day-to-day director of the Student-Athlete Services department, while serving in additional leadership capacities.

Heston started at JU back in 2016 as an Athletic Academic Advisor, after holding a similar role for years prior at the University of Alabama. He was promoted to the Director of Student-Athlete Services in the summer of 2017, when he began his role handling oversight of all the academic support initiatives being offered to student-athletes at JU.
 
Driven by an analytical approach that features personalized advising, the department has seen extensive growth in his time at Jacksonville. The athletic department recently posted its highest collective GPA in history, with a 3.38 mark in the 2020-21 school year. The school received the ASUN President's Academic Trophy in 2018, and has regularly improved its percentage of student-athletes on the ASUN Honor Roll since then. JU has seen its lowest probation rates, highest graduation rates and best APR scores in department history since Heston's arrival.
 
Changes to the department over the years have included the implementation of new technology and academic success resources within the Student-Athlete Center for Success, and better connection between athletics and various campus partners. He has presented at multiple national and regional conferences on topics of specialized advising, data utilization and academic resource maximization and has worked directly with nearly all of the athletic programs at JU over the years.

Before coming to JU, Heston worked at The University of Alabama as an Athletic Academic Assistant for Athletic-Academic Services from 2014-2016.  He was responsible for helping monitor, track, and evaluate over 100 tutors in the department, while utilizing GradesFirst programming to monitor attendance and grades for over 500 student-athletes.  Heston also helped assist personal monitors and learning specialists with study session monitoring and creation of academic enhancement plans for select at-risk student-athletes.  In working with the Student-Athlete Enhancement division, Heston assisted with the CHAMPS/Life Skills program and helped coordinate special events, covering topics such as etiquette, professional development, career planning, and financial literacy.

From 2012-2014, Heston served as an Assistant Baseball Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.  Heston also managed all community outreach initiatives and academic support for the team, while partnering with the University of Kentucky to help instruct and coordinate regional youth baseball clinics.

Since 2012, Heston has also served as an international guest instructor in London, England for the Great Britain Baseball U-16/U-18 Junior National teams and has worked a variety of youth development camps in Europe for MLB International and corresponding national affiliates. 

Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Heston was a professional baseball player for parts for three seasons before retiring due to chronic injuries in 2013.  He pitched for three professional franchises in Chicago and Cleveland markets.

Heston was a four-year letterwinner on the Northern Kentucky University baseball team from 2007-2011.  In his senior season, Heston was a finalist for the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year and was named a Capital One Academic All-American. He currently holds the NKU all-time record for lowest ERA in a season.

A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Heston earned a Bachelor of Science in Sports Business with a minor in business administration from Northern Kentucky University in 2011. He completed his Master of Science in Sport Management from the University of Alabama in 2016.