Ariel "AP" Pesante is a seasoned leader in collegiate athletics, currently serving as the senior associate director of athletics for internal operations. In this role, he provides strategic oversight to various departments including athletics compliance, academics, sports medicine, sports performance and diversity, equity & inclusion. Pesante also acts as the sport administrator for football, baseball and women’s squash, while co-chairing the institution’s Name, Image & Likeness working group.
Pesante works beyond the institution as well, with roles at both the collegiate and conference levels including sitting on the NCAA Awards, Benefits, Expenses, and Financial Aid cabinet, as well as the NCAA Interpretations Committee. He was honored with the Lead1 Institute's minority scholarship in 2019 and graduated from the NCAA's Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute in 2016. Additionally, Pesante is an active member of the Minority Opportunity Athletics Association and the National Association for Athletics Compliance.
In the summer of 2025, he was selected to the NCAA's Pathway Program, a yearlong initiative designed to prepare senior-level athletics administrators for their next career step as directors of athletics or conference commissioners.
Before arriving on the Hilltop, Pesante held positions at the University of Massachusetts, Hofstra University, the University of Hartford and Manhattan College, where he led each university’s compliance efforts
Hailing from the Bronx, New York, Pesante is an alumnus of Binghamton University, where he earned his bachelor's degree. He furthered his education at Delaware State University, obtaining a master's degree in sports administration.
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