A native of Ruston, La.,
Habtom Keleta joined Florida Memorial University in the summer of 2022 as Assistant Athletics Director for Communications and Sports Information Director.
Keleta is now in his 14th year as a director of sports information in higher education in the NCAA and NAIA, with a
recent stint in the news media at Tegna's KYTX CBS19 as a digital content producer in East Texas. He also covered
Friday night football for the weekly show "Under the Lights,"
As a member of NACDA and affiliates, Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA),
Keleta was selected as a Rising Stars Program (2023-24’) participant.
"I have been watching Habtom's work in athletic communication for several years," said FMU Director of Athletics Jason Horn. "He has great rapport with student-athletes, fans, coaches, and especially with the media. He understands the business and understands where we want to take the exposure and branding of FMU athletics. We are excited to have him on our leadership team and look forward to elevating the Lions."
In the winter of 2019, Mr. Keleta
joined his alma mater Grambling State University as assistant athletics director for media relations and SID. Mr. Keleta enhanced the GSU athletics department by
leading the project on creating and implementing a mobile Gramfam athletics app for IOS and Android operating systems. To this day,
the free downloadable app for Grambling fans all across the world provides real-time news alerts, easy access to schedules, live stream information, exclusive media content, game day details and more.
Furthermore, just months after Keleta's hire, the SWAC announced that
all winter and spring sports activities were immediately canceled through the end of the academic year in an unprecedented move due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is when the young, innovative SID decided to
create, produce and co-host a weekly video series called "Rollin' With the G" in order to keep fans engaged with GSU athletics, and to keep the buzz alive during the NCAA and the SWAC dead period.
With the help of GSU SID assistant and SWAC Rising Star winner Evan Murry, and the late, great Grambling State Tigers football and band announcer,
"The Voice," Leon Thomas III, the sports information department revolutionized the NCAA and
HBCU's with a live weekly show on Instagram that featured some of the most prominent figures in the history of Grambling athletics. The inaugural show featured
Miss Quadruple-Double, Shakyla Hill, who famously recorded two quadruple-doubles in her collegiate career at the G. The platform
allowed Mr. Keleta and his crew to share positive stories amongst HBCU fans during an unprecedented time in collegiate athletics that helped uplift and encourage student-athletes, alumni and youth.
"'Rollin" with the G' was crucial to our athletics department as far as analytics are concerned," said Murry. "As a sports information unit, (over the course of 32 weeks) we reached 23,000 viewers during this unprecedented time. Not only did we have Grambling legend Shakyla Hill to kick the show off, we also featured former National Champion and current National Football League (NFL) wideout Chad Williams, who was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 2017. That specific live episode was viewed by several other current NFL players such as Chester Rogers and Tarik Cohen. We also got the chance
to host and supervise the 47th Annual Bayou Classic, "
The Granddaddy of them all" in
Shreveport, La. at Independence Bowl Stadium in unprecedented fashion instead of the
usual site in New Orleans," explained Murry.
Also during the NCAA dead period, Mr. Keleta helped create
GSU Tiger Vault Saturday's; an All-Access video archive to watch old classic Grambling football games for a small fee. This also helped generate revenue for the athletics department during the fall since the football season was postponed due to COVID-19.
Once competition eventually resumed, Mr. Keleta returned the booth for
on-air talent for home volleyball and basketball games due to his experience in broadcasting. Under the direction of
award winning GSU in-house director, producer and video media guru Mr. B, Keleta was able to deliver a
professional, insightful, exciting, informative broadcast similar to the quality of ESPN. Keleta also helped create a new revenue stream for GSU athletics by utilizing
Sidearm's live stream pay-per-view capabilities.
Also, Mr. Keleta and athletics administration helped facilitate the
first collegiate games televised in the history of NBA TV as Grambling State and Jackson State battled in a historic SWAC doubleheader.
"Florida Memorial University has hired a talented young man in Habtom Keleta as their Assistant Athletics Director for Communications and SID," said current Grambling State University head men's basketball coach Donte Jackson. "Habtom was a hard worker and very influential at Grambling with producing high level content for our athletic department. Habtom and his SID team not only created, but also produced 'Rollin' with the G' which became an instant hit during COVID-19. The show was an excellent way to engage fans and supporters of the University. There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Keleta will do great things for Florida Memorial University."
During the pandemic, Keleta helped promote
former GSU offensive lineman David Moore during his journey to the Senior Bowl and NFL Draft and worked closely with national media to
help elevate Moore's draft status, as he eventually
was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers.
"It was an honor to see
my David Moore Senior Bowl review on the GSU athletics website," said NFL draft analyst Luca Sartirana. "Thanks to Habtom for supporting the work to help his student-athletes."
Prior to that, Mr. Keleta first broke into the NCAA Division 1 scene
at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff as the SID where he led a social media campaign for Home Depot's Retool Your School Grant Program. His social media presence immediately contributed to the University as the
UAPB athletics department received a $40,000 grant for campus improvements as a result of being the number one ranked HBCU in the country with over 300K Twitter votes.
Keleta was part of the team that unveiled a brand new
state-of-the-art video board as well as new turf for the newly named Simmons Bank Field in Pine Bluff for the fall 2018 football season.
Before UAPB, Keleta spent nearly six years in New Orleans at Dillard University as the SID, where he
led Dillard's athletic department to a 13th place finish in the nation in the NAIA-SIDA Social Media contest for Twitter and a 21st place finish in the Instagram contest, both good for first place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. He, along with Dillard's
former Athletic Director Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes,
unveiled a new DU athletics website, a new athletics logo, and released a DU athletics mobile app all during the
famous Bleu Devil Classic week in New Orleans. At the time, Dillard was the first school in the GCAC as well as one of the few NAIA schools and HBCU's to produce an app for its athletics department.
"Habtom has an infectious personality, strong work ethic and brings over 10 years of experience in the profession. He will bring energy, creativity and excitement in his role at FMU," said Dr. Barnes.
At DU, he spent time as the public address (PA) announcer, statistician and in the booth as play-by-play broadcaster for the Lady Bleu Devils and
back-to-back-GCAC champion Bleu Devils basketball teams. Bleu Devil nation and the industry quickly took notice of the
SID's natural ability to deliver a high-quality sports broadcast. In 2017, Mr. Keleta also was the only S.I.D. in the GCAC,
and one of 20 in the nation selected as a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Convention Attendance Grant Recipient.
The CoSIDA Convention Grant Attendance Program began in 2014 with 10 recipients, then doubled in size in 2015 and remains at 20 grants worth $800 apiece. Each grant included a complimentary convention registration, allowing the grant funds to go towards hotel nights and transportation at the Orlando World Center Marriott. Keleta was also awarded the
DU Athletics Exceptional Service Award in 2016 for displaying exceptional customer service throughout the year.
During his time in NOLA, his professionalism and expertise led to other sports journalism opportunities in the city like working
as a reporter for the Sun Belt Conference's Football Media Day as well as a locker room reporter for the NCAA Final Four,
including an interview with Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame. Keleta's hard work and personality also allowed him to assist the local community during two different NBA All-Star Weekends, Super Bowl XLVII, and
'Wrestlemania 30', helping the city earn a record
$142 million in economic impact.
"Habtom is the perfect example of a sports information director," said College of Coastal Georgia assistant volleyball coach Clayon Wilson, who conducted a work study under Keleta's SID department at Dillard. "He's engaging, hard working, and loves athletics. Habtom has the ability to tell a story using every avenue, engaging his audience with his words and his voice," Coach Wilson explained. "While at Dillard University, I was privileged to have him as a mentor. He provided me with hands on experience and knowledge I may not have gained anywhere else," she added. "Not only has he helped myself, but he has helped many others shape their athletic administrative careers. Under his leadership and expertise, he helped set the standard at Dillard University with game day operations and sports administration. He really gives 100 percent to every single program he has been a part of, and will be a great addition to Florida Memorial," explained the Starlings Coastal Georgia Club Director.
Before his time in NOLA, Mr. Keleta began his SID career at a small HBCU in East Texas; Wiley College,
Home of the Great Debaters. In Marshall, he first learned the ins and outs of the sports information world
under the direction of Wiley AD's Andre Payne
and
Janet Eaton. He also hosted a weekly 30-minute sports radio show called Halftime with Habtom on the College's radio station,
KBWC 91.1 The Mix. The show was nominated for Wiley's Talk-Show of the Year for two consecutive seasons.
Mr. Keleta conducted his undergraduate studies in Arkadelphia, Ark. at
Ouachita Baptist University, a small private school in Arkansas that
ranks among the nation's best in small liberal arts colleges. During his freshman year, he was able to
launch his broadcasting career as a color commentator for both the
Arkadelphia Badgers and Lady Badgers as well as the
Ouachita Tigers and Lady Tigers, learning from broadcast legend
Dr. Jeff Root, "The Football Doc." He also gained valuable journalistic skills and later became sports editor during his upperclassman days for
the school newspaper, The Signal.
"After working side-by-side in press boxes and newspaper offices while he was a student, I have enjoyed keeping up with Habtom's career since college," Dr. Root explained. "It's been great to see him investing in the work of universities and the lives of students. It was evident in his college years that he was willing to go above the call of duty. He began broadcasting high school and college games early in his college career, and he showed a strong interest in sports administration and sports information. In the years since then, Habtom has developed into a multi-skilled professional, and I am excited to see the positive impact he'll have for all the FMU family," said Dr. Root.
Keleta earned a
Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from OBU with a minor in speech communications. He later furthered his education and earned a Master of Arts in Communications at Grambling State University.
Mr. Keleta was born and raised in Ruston, La. He is a proud Eritrean and a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan.
