Ryan Hiepler joined Pepperdine Athletics in July 2025 as the department's first General Manager of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL).
In his role, Hiepler assists in the development and implementation of Pepperdine Athletics' institutional NIL program and other opportunities enabled by the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement. He recently served in a similar role as the Executive Director of NIL for Liberty University basketball.
Hiepler collaborates closely with Pepperdine Athletics senior staff and coaches to further develop an NIL program in alignment with the department's vision and values. He advises coaches on NIL strategy and market insights to support student-athlete recruitment and retention and serve as the primary resource for student-athletes on all aspects of the NIL process. Additional responsibilities include working alongside the athletics External Relations teams to identify and generate resources in support of NIL and consulting with Pepperdine Athletics leadership on strategies and best-practices related to NIL, ensuring the department remains at the forefront of realizing opportunities created by the House vs NCAA Settlement.
Hiepler has multiple years experience in the legal field at the Law Offices of Hiepler & Hiepler. His career has seen him demonstrate strong legal acumen in complex litigation to serve his firm's clients.
Hiepler is a 2018 graduate of Liberty University, where he studied Business and Managerial Economics while competing as a Division I basketball player. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law in 2022, where he served as symposium editor for the Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and the Law, and clerked for both the Pepperdine Caruso Religious Liberty Clinic and the Supreme Court of Rwanda.
Following law school, he accepted a judicial clerkship with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas under the Honorable Judge Pittman, where he contributed to numerous published opinions and earned recognition as a top-tier legal writer.
His most recent position in athletics saw him serve as Executive Director of NIL for Liberty University basketball. Hiepler and his wife Emily have one daughter, Goldie.
