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Derek Neal is in his eighth season as a full-time member of the Illinois sports information office and 10th year overall in 2011-12. He was named an assistant sports information director in July of 2004 after serving as a sports information intern for two years.
Neal handles publicity efforts and serves as a media liaison for the Fighting Illini football program and assists with publicity for the men's basketball team. He is also social media coordinator for the athletic department, managing the Facebook and Twitter pages for Fighting Illini Athletics and Illini Football while overseeing the social media pages for all 19 sports. Neal coordinates photography and archiving for the DIA as well.
Neal is in his seventh season working with the football team and his first with men's basketball. During his time in intercollegiate athletics, Neal has assisted with publicity efforts for the 2008 Rose Bowl and 2010 Texas Bowl football teams and the 2005 Final Four basketball team. He also coordinated media efforts for the 2005 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, the 2004 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships and the 2001 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.
Neal previously served as the sports information contact for Fighting Illini women's basketball (2004-11), baseball (2004-05), soccer (2002-04) and men's and women's gymnastics (2002-04).
A native of Pekin, Ill., Neal earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., in 2002. While at Augie, Neal was a four-year letterwinner for the Viking track and field team and worked as an assistant in the sports information office. Neal is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Updated October 2011
