Oakland University has hired Kenneth DeGraaf as its new Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, the athletics department announced Tuesday, Sept. 1.

DeGraaf, a metro Detroit native, brings more than a decade of NCAA Division I experience in compliance, administration and coaching to the Golden Grizzlies. Athletic Director Steve Waterfield made the announcement.

At his previous stop, Houston Christian University, DeGraaf provided rules interpretations to coaches, student-athletes and department leadership across the school's 17 Division I varsity programs. He managed team scholarship budgets and roster limits, ran the NCAA Transfer Portal process and monitored academic eligibility and APR requirements there since April 2024.

Before moving into full-time compliance work, DeGraaf spent six years at Mount St. Mary's University. He built the school's bowling program from scratch.

He compiled a 427-214 record and led the team to two NCAA Tournament appearances. The program stayed ranked in the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) Top 20 from December 2018 through his departure, peaking at No. 7. He coached three NTCA All-Americans and five All-Region selections during that stretch.

His peers elected him Vice President of the NTCA from 2022 to 2024. He was named Northeast Conference NCAA Division I Coach of the Year in 2019 and was selected to the Siena Heights University Bowling All-Decade Team in 2020.

DeGraaf started his collegiate coaching career at Saint Francis University as an assistant from 2016 to 2017, posting an 11-1 record as interim head coach and winning a tournament championship at the James Brown Invitational.

Off the lanes, DeGraaf worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the West Michigan Sports Commission, where he coordinated youth athletic programs for ages 6 to 18 and helped launch the Adopt-An-Athlete program to generate college interest among low-income children. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Houston Christian and holds a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Certificate from Mount St. Mary's.

He earned a Master of Business Administration from Saint Francis in 2018 and a bachelor's degree in sport management from Siena Heights University in 2016.

Oakland competes in the Horizon League at the NCAA Division I level. No start date for DeGraaf was specified in the announcement.