NASHVILLE - The TranSouth Athletic Conference sports information directors have voted Cumberland University SID Jo Jo Freeman as the 2012 TranSouth Sports Information Director of the Year. The conference instituted the award in 2006 to recognize the efforts of sports information directors in promoting the teams of the TranSouth.

Freeman, who just completed his fourth year serving as the SID at Cumberland University, has assisted the conference in several roles. For the last two seasons Freeman has served as the TranSouth Sport SID for Tennis. His contributions included several historical research projects for use across the conference. Freeman has served in the role of host for several conference events, providing sports information work for those events.

TranSouth SID of the Year History
2012 Jo Jo Freeman, Cumberland University
2011 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2010 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2009 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2008 Gregory Ruff, Trevecca Nazarene
2007 Steven Aldridge, Union University
2006 Steven Aldridge, Union University

Ron Pavan, Director of Athletics at Cumberland, says the honor is well deserved, "Jo Jo Freeman is the hardest working Sports Information Director that I have ever been around. He cares about doing all things in a professional manner. He is one the best writers that I have ever seen in athletics. I believe he is the biggest factor in our athletic department visibility with his game summaries, stories and state of the art web site. Jo Jo Freeman is a game changer in our athletic department."

At Cumberland he led the development of the first athletic-only website - GoCumberlandAthletics.com. He led the effort to enhance the CU fan experience by adding live video and audio for many home as well as selected road athletic events. Under Freeman, CU has provided live stats for most home athletic events. The father of four has also added his voice to many of the video and radio broadcasts of CU sports.

Freeman and his staff oversee an athletic department consisting of 17 teams, with more than 400 active student-athletes.

"Jo Jo has raised the level of professionalism to the conference and at Cumberland," said Trevecca and TranSouth sports information director Gregory Ruff. "It didn't take long for Jo Jo to revolutionize the culture of sports information at Cumberland. Whether it was as a visiting broadcaster, media representative, or SID you could see his hand print on the sports information presentation."

Freeman was honored by the respect offered by his peers, "It's an honor to be recognized by your peers for the work done within our profession. We've had a great group of professionals within the TranSouth Conference the last few years, raising the level of work done by everyone, which only benefits the student-athletes and the fans. I'm proud that I have been able to add to the tradition of excellence at Cumberland University."

The Gulfport, Miss., native graduated from Mississippi State in 1999 with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism and Public Relations. While at MSU, Freeman worked two years as a student assistant in the Media Relations office, serving as the primary softball contact for the 1999 season.

Freeman is married to the former Ginger Corley of Watertown, and lives in Murfreesboro. His daughter Erin resides in Chattanooga. Ginger and Jo Jo have triplets - Micah, Patrick and Kathleen - born October 16, 2007.

Freeman is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the US Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), Tennessee Sportswriters Association (TSWA) and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).

Prior to arriving at CU, Freeman served the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Media Relations office for more than seven years and for a year he was an intern at Texas Tech.