CHICAGO, Ill. - Former University of Montevallo baseball player DeWayne Peevy will serve as the next director of athletics at DePaul University, effective Sept. 1.  Peevy heads to Chicago after spending 12 years with the University of Kentucky as the deputy athletic director.  In his tenure at Kentucky, Peevy played a prominent role with key fundraising efforts, strategic planning and media relations. He served as the liaison to the Southeastern Conference and SEC network offices, and oversaw Kentucky men's basketball, considered the most successful NCAA Division I basketball program in history both in terms of all-time wins and winning percentage.

"DeWayne is someone I trust wholeheartedly, to the point where he became the center of our scheduling and worked hand-in-hand with me on just about everything we do. It made it so that he and I talked every day, oftentimes multiple times a day," Kentucky men's basketball head coach John Calipari said. "DePaul will see quickly that DeWayne is a gatherer, a listener, a consensus builder and an idea man who gathers the right people in place to execute. I can't wait to see what happens for the athletic department at DePaul and for DeWayne personally."

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Peevy's 23-year career in collegiate athletics began serving as the sports information director at Montevallo for three years before becoming the media relations director for the Southeastern Conference Office. He also served on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Final Four Media Coordination Committee through the 2013 NCAA Championship and was previously the sports information director representative on the board of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

"I am honored and humbled today to accept the position of director of athletics at DePaul," Peevy said. "This is an opportunity that I have long dreamed of and one that I do not take lightly. DePaul is a proud and tradition-rich athletic department built on the foundation of a strong mission in a diverse urban community. My family and I are all excited and energized to join the Blue Demon family."

Peevy received his bachelor of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Montevallo. He is currently pursuing his master's degree at the University of Kentucky/University of Louisville Executive MBA program. He and his wife, Allison, have two children: Kaitlyn, 19, and Braden, 13.