For The Love Of Sports And The Bulldog Nation

Kevin Parrish // Bowie State Athletic Media Relations Student

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Imperati is nine months into his new position at Bowie State after serving as the Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations at the University of the District of Columbia, and as the Athletics Compliance for New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). NYIT is the school where he met and formed a strong relationship with now Bowie State Athletic Director, Clyde Doughty Jr.

“I am so thrilled and honored to work alongside Jason once again,” Doughty said. “Jason is a true professional. He is creative, hard-working, dedicated, but most of all, he is a good person. I look forward to working with Jason as we race to excellence. We are undeniably Bowie Bold and forever Bulldog Strong!!!”

Imperati grew up a Chicago Bulls fan. He loved the dynamic tandem of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippin wreak havoc throughout the league. He loved their dynasty—six championships between 1991 and 1998—with two three-peats included. When it comes to basketball, Michael Jordan is Imperati’s sports hero. But for Baseball? That title belongs to Derek Jeter, a beloved shortstop who played 20 years—all in pinstripes. Jeter was elected to the Hall of Fame nine months ago and is year three into his role as Miami Marlins chief executive.

That same energy Imperati has when discussing Jordan and the Bulls, or Jeter and the Yankees carries over to his full-time job in athletics. In his 10-plus years working in athletics, Imperati says he’s been “very fortunate to be around a lot of wonderful student-athletes and stays in touch with a good deal of them”.

“Whether it's through social media, texting, or just phone calls,” he said. “Just checking up on certain individuals and watching their careers grow. So that's a big thing for me--just being able to support them. And I take great pride in seeing those folks be successful, and our success in athletics is all attributed to them. So, you can't help but appreciate that.”

During a phone interview with Bowie State Athletic Department, Davis shed light on how much he regularly watches sports, how he dealt with sports canceled during quarantine, his arrival at BSU and more.

How frequently do you watch sports?

I mean, anything I can put a sporting event on; it’s certainly on at home. Sundays are big, football days at the house. Living in Maryland, I don’t get as many Jets games as I’d like to, but I still try to catch glimpses of the one o clock games--and I certainly watch Sunday and Monday Night Football. For baseball, I watch the Yankees play on the Yes Network.

How did you deal with sports being canceled during quarantine?

That was extremely difficult to get used to. I watched reruns of games NBA TV and NFL Network aired. So, I watched old playoff games and things of that nature, just to get a little bit of it.

What do you like to do in your downtime besides watch sports?

My fiancé and I like to go hiking. We go to West Virginia quite often, and there are some good spots in Maryland. We find trails and a lot of history in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. So, it’s great to go those historical trails and hike and head down to Harpers Ferry, where we can do some of those trails. So, yeah, that’s a big part of my fitness and being outdoors, especially during the quarantine. When we were allowed to go back outside that was a big part of our mental health--going hiking.

How did you end up with Bowie State?

[An] opportunity at Bowie State opened up, and when I saw the post, I realized that Clyde Doughty was here—we had stayed in touch over the years, and he's been a mentor and a good friend. So, it was something that I wanted to pursue. This was just a perfect opportunity to get back into compliance. So, I did apply for this position here, went through the interview process, and was fortunate enough to be offered.

And it's good to be back with Clyde; it's just a wonderful experience. He's a great mentor. A wonderful leader.

How would you compare working at Bowie State athletics to other institutions?

I think every experience is different. You have to take away positives from everything that you do in life. You can't focus on the negative because I don't think that builds good mental health. You definitely need to take some of the negatives and turn them into positives, if you can. But here at Bowie, the atmosphere is wonderful. We have great, great fans. The student-athletes here are, again, wonderful. We have really positive support from the administration, certainly a team atmosphere here. Definitely big on “Bulldog Nation.”