Nathanial Barbee was promoted to Associate Director of Athletic Communications / Director of Creative Content in April 2026. Barbee oversees the baseball, men's soccer, swimming & diving, and wrestling programs for all communication aspects and upholds the visual identity and branding for all VMI Athletics' social media accounts.
Barbee was hired in March 2024 as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications & Creative Content to oversee media relations for five varsity teams and assist with creative content services for several sports. In his two years in this role, Barbee piloted the social media vision and grew VMI's platforms by the thousands on X, Instagram, and Facebook. He received several NCAA Top Shots of the Week for his photographs and received a pair of mentions from the Skull Sparks creative content account for his graphic designs.
Barbee comes from the University of Southern Indiana, where he served as the Athletic Communication Graduate/Student Assistant for the previous three years. Barbee graduated from USI in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio & Television, minoring in Sport Communication. He obtained his Master of Science in Sport Management degree from USI in May 2024.
During his undergraduate years at USI, Barbee developed experience in the field of sports media. He worked as a sports broadcaster for the USI radio station, 95.7 The Spin, for two years. Barbee announced several USI and high school sports and hosted the "Screaming Eagles Sports Podcast" and "The Stein Show." Barbee also spent two years broadcasting for the GLVC Sports Network, a live-stream service for the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
While working at 95.7 The Spin, Barbee was able to collect a trio of awards. In May 2020, the Indiana Society of Professional Journalists awarded Barbee first place in the “Student Radio Sports Reporting” competition for his story about USI Women's Golf alumni, Abbey Leighty. In April 2021, the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters honored Barbee with third place in “Sports Event Broadcasting” for his radio broadcast during the USI Men’s Basketball GLVC Tournament win against former conference foe, Bellarmine University. In June 2021, he scored first place in the Indiana SPJ “Student Radio News Reporting” competition for his story on the effects COVID-19 had on USI campus tours.
Outside of USI, Barbee spent time as a Marketing/Community Relations Intern for the Evansville Otters professional baseball club in the summer of 2021. He helped plan special theme nights and promotional ideas and was tasked to assist with on-field promotions and coordinate donation requests. He was also given various tasks and assignments, such as wearing the “Evan the Otter” mascot and the "Rally Taco" suit.
Barbee has done independent work around the city of Evansville, picking up a gig with CBS Sports during the NCAA D-II Elite Eight tournament in 2022. In 2024, he was the Official TV Stats assistant for ESPN during the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships. Outside of sports, Barbee received a substitute teaching license to help schools and teachers in the Evansville area.
The native of Wayne City, Illinois, graduated from Wayne City High School in May 2019. Barbee and his wife, Alexis, and their daughter, Indy, reside in Buena Vista, Virginia.
