Jay Blackman was named the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Director of Athletics Communications and Media Relations in December 2008.  Blackman brings over eight years of experience in the field to UTC and currently oversees the Mocs' sports information efforts.

Blackman spent the previous seven years at the University of New Mexico where he was the primary contact for men's basketball, men's soccer and men's golf. He also oversaw the athletics department official website, www.GoLobos.com.

As the Lobo men's basketball contact, Blackman was in charge of the communications efforts for the most high profile sports entity in the state of New Mexico.  He also worked with New Mexico's 2005 men's soccer team that advanced to the finals of the College Cup and UNM's 2004 ski team, the only team national champion in school history.

During his time at New Mexico, Blackman worked directly with nine conference players of the year, six conference championship teams, four individual NCAA Champions, two NCAA Woman of the Year candidates, 10 Academic All-Americans and two NBA Lottery Draft Picks.

As a part of his duties with the official web site, Blackman directed the completion of two redesigns of GoLobos.com. He also worked to implement the online video streaming of nearly every Lobo home event, including men's and women's soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, football and women's basketball.

Blackman also helped to oversee numerous conference and NCAA postseason events, including serving as the Tournament Director for the 2002 MPSF Men's Soccer Championships, the Assistant Tournament Director for the 2004 and 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball First and Second rounds, the 2005 NCAA Men's Basketball Albuquerque Regional and the 2006 NCAA Women's Basketball Albuquerque Regional.

A native of Fremont, North Carolina, Blackman earned his bachelor's degree in Physical Education from the University of North Carolina in 1998. While at UNC, he served as a manager for the Tar Heels men's basketball team that advanced to the 1997 Final Four. Blackman completed his master's degree in Sport Management from Appalachian State in 2000 and his MBA from UNM in 2003. He also completed his Ph.D. in Sport Administration from UNM in 2004.

Blackman, 33, also served as the director of media relations for the New Mexico Slam professional basketball team in 2001. He married Emily Jorgensen in May 2006 and the couple had their first daughter, Talley LaRee, on April 12, 2008.