University of Tennessee Athletics
Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Director of Student-Athlete Success & External Relations
- Year At Tennessee:
- 24th (10th With Lady Vols)
- Alma Mater (Year):
- Troy (1999, 2001)
- Email:
- hervin@utk.edu
Updated: August 2025
The 2025-26 campaign is the 10th season as a member of the UT women's basketball staff for Heather Ervin and her fourth as the director of student-athlete success and external relations after serving the previous three as the director of player relations and administration.
Among Ervin's focused responsibilities for her latest role are implementation and oversight of a program based on building lifetime success, which focuses on character development, life skills and career connections, and provision of individualized education and guidance to current student-athletes in the areas of personal brand alignment, image consultation, career exploration and business leadership development.
Additionally, she has oversight for the program's mentorship program, serving both as an advisor to student-athletes as well as connecting student-athletes with other high-character role models, and partnering with the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center in the area of student-athlete development for each Lady Vol player.
Ervin made a return to college athletics after serving as the program administrator at the UT Center for Information and Communication Studies in the College of Communication from March 2015 to July 2016.
Prior to that, Ervin worked with the University of Tennessee football program for 13 years, from 2001-14. She was promoted in 2009 to assistant director of football operations, as the only female in the Southeastern Conference to hold that position. Ervin has a wealth of knowledge in the sports industry not only as a former student-athlete but as a coach and administrator as well.
A member of the WBCA and Women Leaders in College Sports, Ervin's additional responsibilities have included providing mentorship to current student-athletes, serving as the academic liaison and spearheading the DEI initiatives for the program. She also has been involved with Lady Vol facility projects, student-athlete housing and Letter Award distribution. She currently serves as a UT Promise mentor, is on the competitive excellence strategic planning committee and is a member of the Vols Leadership Academy (VOLeaders).
Previous responsibilities have included assisting with all aspects of day-to-day recruiting operations, updating the recruiting boards and assisting with official and unofficial visits. She also was responsible for managing pre- and post-signing paperwork as well as organizing prospect evaluations and managing the coaches' recruiting travel.
Ervin's responsibilities in her previous role in athletics were to manage the head football coach's daily schedule while also providing administrative support to the director of football operations and the senior associate athletics director for football administration. Ervin also was responsible for arranging summer employment opportunities for student-athletes and working closely with the Thornton Center in monitoring student-athletes' class attendance.
In addition, she served as chief liaison for all player family event functions as well as managing a website designed for players' families. Ervin also was substantially involved with official and unofficial on-campus recruiting visits.
The Sweetwater, Tenn., native holds both a bachelor's degree in health and human services (1999) and a master's degree in foundations of education with an emphasis in sports management (2001) from Troy University, where she played basketball and later served as a graduate assistant basketball coach for two years.
Prior to that, she played two seasons at Hiwassee College in nearby Madisonville, Tenn. While there, Ervin helped the Tigers to a combined 57-10 record and two trips to the NJCAA national tournament before graduating in 1997.
During her playing days at Sweetwater High School, the former Heather Lenoir was a multi-sport athlete in basketball, softball and track and field. She set 12 track records and still owns nine of those today.
Ervin and her husband, Harry, reside in Maryville and have two daughters: Jasmine and Jada.
