In his fifth year at Canisius, Jarrett Abelson is the College's director of athletic communications. He serves as the primary media relations contact for the Golden Griffins’ hockey and men’s lacrosse programs.
Abelson also oversees the athletic department’s official website, GoGriffs.com, coordinating the site’s transition to SIDEARM Sports in 2017 and a rebranding in 2021.
Prior to his arrival on Main Street, Abelson spent two years as the associate director of athletic communications at Colgate University. Abelson served as the primary media relations liaison for eight sports, including the Raiders’ nationally-ranked men’s ice hockey program. He also assisted in the oversight of athletic department website, gocolgateraiders.com, with emphasis on marketing, ticketing and fund-raising initiatives.
Abelson spent seven years as an assistant director of athletic communications at UNCW, serving as media relations contact for the Seahawks’ women’s basketball, women’s soccer, softball, volleyball and women’s golf programs. He also contributed significantly to the implementation of department’s social media strategy on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram platforms while also overseeing the department’s video streaming service that produced more than 90 live broadcasts annually.
Abelson returned to UNCW after a two-year stint as sports information director at Keiser University (formerly Northwood University) in West Palm Beach, Fla. At Keiser, Abelson was responsible for the promotion and public relation responsibilities of the department's 11 athletic programs. He also handled media requests for the highly-publicized return of coaching legend Rollie Massimino to the sidelines as Northwood's director of basketball operations/head men's basketball coach.
During his time in the athletic communications industry, Abelson has volunteered at a variety of major sporting events, including the 2009 Men’s Final Four in Detroit. He assisted in the media relations responsibilities for both the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First and Second Rounds and the 2019 Men's Frozen Four, co-hosted by Canisius at KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo.
Abelson began his career with a pair of post-graduate internships at Ohio and UNCW. He earned his bachelor's degree in sports management from Dayton in 2003, where he also served as a student assistant for three years. He earned his master's degree in sport administration from Canisius in 2019.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Abelson is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He resides in Buffalo.
