Longtime Lindsey Wilson University athletics administrator picked to lead top athletics conference in the NAIA.
by Duane Bonifer
COLUMBIA, KY. (07/01/2026) Longtime Kentucky college athletics administrator Chris Wells has been named commissioner of the Mid-South Conference.
Wells, who has served as the conference’s interim commissioner since May 2025, is the sixth person to lead the Mid-South Conference, which includes schools in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Wells has been an athletics administrator for the last 25 years at Lindsey Wilson (Kentucky) University, most recently serving as the school’s associate director of athletics.
“The Mid-South Conference Council of Presidents is delighted to welcome Chris Wells as our new full-time conference commissioner,” said Cumberland (Tennessee) University President Paul C. Stumb, who is chair of the Mid-South Conference Council of Presidents. “As a graduate of two universities within our conference, Chris has certainly demonstrated the requisite academic acumen, but also more broadly he has an outstanding track record of commitment and professionalism within the higher athletic administration sector.”
Wells said that he’s “incredibly humbled” to lead the Mid-South Conference.
“I’m proud to have the support of the Mid-South Conference Council of Presidents, along with the conference’s athletic directors and coaches,” said Wells. “I look forward to working with them to create even more opportunities for our student-athletes.”
Wells will inherit the leadership of a conference that is among the best of the 20 NAIA conferences. In 2025-26, two Mid-South members finished in the top five of the NAIA Learfield Directors’ Cup, the annual award presented by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to U.S. colleges and universities with the most successful overall athletic programs. University of the Cumberlands (Kentucky) won the NAIA Learfield Directors’ Cup for the third year in a row, and Lindsey Wilson finished fifth. Overall, Mid-South Conference members won four NAIA team national titles during the 2025-26 school year.
The Mid-South Conference has seven full members from colleges and universities in Kentucky and Tennessee who compete in 12 men’s sports, 12 women’s sports and three coed sports: Bethel (Tennessee) University, Campbellsville (Kentucky) University, Cumberland, Cumberlands, Freed-Hardeman (Tennessee) University, Georgetown (Kentucky) College and Lindsey Wilson.
The conference also has 16 affiliate members from schools in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.
As an example of the conference’s high level of competition, six of the seven Mid-South Conference women’s basketball teams qualified for this year’s national tournament, and five of the tournament’s final 16 teams were from the Mid-South Conference. In addition to the four national championships, MSC teams earned 24 top-five finishes at their respective national championships and 40 top-10 finishes.
“I truly believe that from top to bottom, the Mid-South Conference is the strongest conference in the NAIA,” said Wells. “Any of our full members can win at any point. More importantly, they’re also successful academically.”
Wells said that another strength of the Mid-South Conference is a strong spirit of cooperation and camaraderie among members’ leadership.
“I love the fact that our seven presidents and ADs are willing to take off their institutional hats and get in a room together to work on what’s best for the conference and student-athletes,” he said. “The fact that we work so well together makes it a very special conference.”
Before his current position at Lindsey Wilson, Wells was the school’s sports information director. He led the communication efforts for four men’s soccer national championships (2001, ’05, ’09, ’11); four women’s soccer national championships (2004, ’06, ’12, ’14); a women’s volleyball national championship (2017); a football national championship (2020); and a pair of USA Cycling national championships (2001, ’12).
Wells was named the 2015 Clarence “Ike” Pearson recipient by the NAIA Sports Information Directors Association (NAIA-SIDA). The lifetime achievement award is presented annually to those who make outstanding contributions to the profession. He has also served as president of the NAIA-SIDA Board.
A Burkesville, Kentucky, native, Wells holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Lindsey Wilson and a master of arts in sports administration from Cumberland.
Lindsey Wilson University athletics administrator Chris Wells, who has 25 years of experience leading college athletics, has been named commissioner of the Mid-South Conference.
Lindsey Wilson University is a vibrant liberal arts university in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson offers 30 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The university’s 29 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson University)