Staff Directory

Matt Plizga

Title:
Associate AD / Basketball Branding Strategy
Email:

Matt Plizga joined the University of Oklahoma in July 2026 as associate athletics director, basketball branding strategy. He leads the holistic external strategy for OU's men's and women's basketball programs, bringing together communications, creative, social media, video, photography, graphics, marketing and other brand initiatives under a unified vision.

The primary focus of the role is to ensure every aspect of Oklahoma basketball storytelling, content, recruiting support, and fan engagement is aligned to strengthen the visibility and long-term success of both programs.

Plizga joined the department after spending the previous five months at Charlotte as associate athletic director – strategic communications. He had direct oversight of the strategic communications and social media units, while also serving on the senior leadership and external leadership teams.

Plizga spent 10 years at the University of Pittsburgh (2015-25), joining the department in July 2015 as assistant athletic director of strategic communications before being promoted to associate athletic director in the spring of 2022.

He oversaw the department's strategic communications, graphic design, social media and digital media divisions, while also serving as the primary communications contact for the Pitt men's basketball program. In addition, Plizga was a member of the department's senior leadership and external leadership teams, the Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame Committee, Panthers United Committee and NIL task force.

Under Plizga's guidance, the Pitt strategic communications staff refined the department's style guide to create more consistent messaging, established a comprehensive season-in-review packet and collaborated with the marketing and fan engagement departments to create a thorough social media strategy designed to enhance the Pitt brand. He also played a key role in branding efforts in and around the Petersen Events Center, Fitzgerald Field House, Trees Pool and the Petersen Sports Complex.

Prior to his arrival at Pitt, Plizga spent 15 years as a member of the sports information office at Duke University. He joined the SID staff as an intern in 2001 and was promoted to assistant sports information director during the spring of 2003. Plizga was promoted to associate sports information director in 2007 and was moved up to senior associate sports information director just prior to his departure in 2015.

Plizga spent the final 11 years of his time at Duke handling all media activities relating to the men's basketball and men's golf programs. In that time, he was a part of two national championships (2010 and 2015), three Final Four appearances (2004, 2010, 2015) and seven ACC championships. Plizga led three National Player of the Year, two National Defensive Player of the Year, four ACC Player of the Year, four ACC Rookie of the Year and 21 All-America campaigns. He also promoted five Academic All-America selections, 37 All-ACC selections and 24 NBA Draft picks in that span.

Following Duke's 2015 NCAA championship run, Plizga was the managing editor of "Here Comes Duke – The Drive for Five." He also assisted with the creation of "The Encyclopedia of Duke Basketball" and Gene Wojciechowski's "The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds that Changed Basketball."

In addition to his responsibilities with the Duke basketball program, Plizga also served as a liaison with USA Basketball during Mike Krzyzewski's tenure as head coach of the U.S. Men's Senior National Team.

During his Duke tenure, Plizga also worked with the football, women's lacrosse, field hockey, fencing, rowing, volleyball, women's basketball and wrestling programs.

Plizga served a two-year graduate assistantship in the sports information office at Edinboro University, earning a master's degree in speech and communication studies. At Edinboro, he worked with the volleyball, women's basketball and softball programs, while assisting with baseball, football, men's basketball and wrestling. Plizga also worked the sports desk at the Erie Daily Times and performed other freelance work for various publications.

A 1999 graduate of Penn State Erie – The Behrend College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies, Plizga was a four-year letterwinner on the men's basketball team while also working in the sports information office as a work-study student and as an intern. He helped the team to three Division III ECAC Championship appearances, including a team title in 1999, and received the Penn State-Behrend Scholarship/Leadership Award in 1998. Plizga also wrote for the school newspaper and was the sports editor for three years as an undergraduate.

A Windsor, Ohio, native, Plizga resides in Norman. He and his wife, Erin, have two sons, Zander and Zachary.