Chris Ratcliff begins his first year as UAM's Director of Athletics and will continue to serve as head coach of the women's basketball team.

He is no stranger to administration. For the past two years, Ratcliff has served as UAM's Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance, where he gained the knowledge of what it takes to run an athletic department.

Since 2006, Ratcliff has been rebuilding a once dominant women's basketball program at UAM. In 2008-09, all of the hard work finally paid off. Ratcliff took the Blossoms to its first ever appearance in the the Gulf South Conference Championship Game, ultimately good enough for the school's second appearance in the NCAA South Regional Tournament.

From his first season to his second season, he more than doubled his win total. This past season, his team gave UAM fans a glimpse of the successful past by turning in the program's first 20-win season (21-9) since current UAM softball coach Alvy Early led the team to 23 wins in 1997-98 and the program's first regional tournament appearance.

Prior to his hire at UAM, Ratcliff served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Henderson State University, where he helped lead the Lady Reddies to national prominence in each season. The Lady Reddies showed marked improvement during his tenure, winning 23 games in 2004, 25 games in 2005 and 29 games in 2006, setting new school records each year.

Ratcliff knows what it takes to be the best. In his last season at HSU, the Lady Reddies earned their way into the NCAA D2 "Elite Eight." Some say that would be good enough, but in 2004, Ratcliff's first season, HSU captured the GSC Championship and won its way into the NCAA D2 "Final Four."

Ratcliff has also served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas.

He and his wife, Andrea, reside in Warren, Ark. The couple has a one-year-old daughter, Ella.