Ryan Pickens enters his fifth season with the Utah Valley University athletic department as Assistant Sports Information Director. He oversees media relations for volleyball, women's basketball, and baseball, and previously served as UVU's wrestling sports information director for three seasons.
During his time in Orem, Pickens has overseen publicity for UVU's 2025 NCAA Tournament appearance and coordinated media efforts for the UVU women's volleyball team's 2025 WAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Championship appearance. In volleyball, UVU has produced numerous All-WAC performers during his tenure, highlighted by four First Team All-WAC selections and two WAC Freshman of the Year honorees. The program has also earned five consecutive AVCA Team Academic Awards and produced 16 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selections.
On the baseball side, Pickens has overseen coverage for a program that has produced multiple All-WAC and All-Region players, including 2024 NCBWA Region 8 Player of the Year and Perfect Game All-American Daniel Dickinson, as well as CSC All-Americans Burke Camper and Hunter Katschke. He has also assisted with announcements for 15 players who advanced to professional baseball, including UVU's two highest draft selections: Casey Anderson in 2023 and Kaden Carpenter in 2026.
When Utah Valley hosted the 2023 WAC Volleyball Tournament, Pickens served as Communications Director, overseeing the publication of tournament materials, coordinating statistics, and managing other administrative responsibilities in preparation for the event. During his time with UVU Athletics, he has also assisted in submitting bids to host conference championships in two different conferences.
Pickens first joined UVU Athletics in March 2014 as a member of the baseball broadcast team and has since contributed to softball and basketball broadcasts. While pursuing his graduate degree, he began working directly with the sports information staff in August 2019. In addition to his work at UVU, Pickens worked as a broadcaster for Spanish Fork Community Network (SFCN), where he has called more than 400 high school sporting events, including over 20 state championship games. He also spent the 2010 football season as a sideline reporter for Weber State football home broadcasts.
His media career began in Eugene, Oregon, where he hosted a sports talk show on 91.9 KRVM and completed internships with 95.3 The Score and KUGN 590.
A native of Eugene, Oregon, Pickens graduated from Utah Valley University in December 2018 with a degree in Aviation Management and earned a Master of Science in Sport Administration from the University of Northern Colorado in April 2020.
Pickens is a member of College Sports Communicators (CSC), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He also volunteers on the College Sports Communicators Mentorship Committee.
Â
