ROCHESTER, Mich. – Alex Underwood has joined Oakland University Athletics as the coordinator of athletic communications, announced Senior Assistant AD for Communications Maria Rivera on Tuesday.

Underwood spent the last two years as a graduate assistant in the athletic communications department at Southern Illinois University,assisting with coverage for all 15 Division I programs at SIU.

"I am very excited to welcome Alex to the Oakland Athletics family," said Rivera. During the interview process I knew Alex would be a great fit to our team, as he will be instrumental in our continued efforts in pushing innovation on the department's digital platforms and providing outstanding sport coverage to the department and the student-athletes. 

During his time at SIU, Underwood served as the primary contact for men's and women's swimming and diving, and men's golf, while also providing secondary support for baseball, football and softball.Additionally, he helped build content and social media campaigns for all social platforms, and was responsible for creating and posting content to SIUSalukis.comincluding press releases, game previews and recaps, game notes, videos, photo galleries and statistics.
 
Underwood also brings experience in calling and inputting in-game statistics, photography, color commentating, graphic creation and student intern oversight. The Ohio native served as the media coordinator at the 2020 Swimming and Diving Mid-American Conference Championships.

Prior to his time at SIU, Underwood spent three years with the University of Mount Union as a sports information assistant. 

In May 2020, Underwood graduated with a master's degree in sports studies from SIU. He earned a bachelor's degree in sport business from Mount Union in 2018.