We know you’re busy, and it’s hard sometimes to keep up with the week’s most pertinent college athletics news. As a way to help you catch up with what you may have missed, the CollegeAD staff has collected and reviewed some of the major headlines from this week, the 17th week of 2017.
SEARCHING:
CENTRAL MICHIGAN, which did not utilize the services of a consulting firm for its athletic director search announced four finalists for the position this week. Finalists include Mike Harrity, SR Associate AD for Student-Athlete Services at NOTRE DAME, Chris King, Athletics Director at UTRGV, Michael Alford, Sr Associate AD for Administration and Development OKLAHOMA, member of the 2016 Next Up class, and Marie Tuite, Interim AD at SJSU. CMU has strong candidates to choose from, all with diverse backgrounds. King has done an incredible job transforming UTRGV. Alford may be the best SR level development professional in the country with his combined experience at the professional (Cowboys) and collegiate level (Oklahoma). Tuite, an industry veteran may have a hometown edge. Tuite was a two-sport student-athlete and graduate of CMU, she was inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.
Unlike their interstate counterparts at CMU, EASTERN MICHIGAN has decided to hire a search firm to aid in the Eagles hunt to replace Heather Lyke. University President James Smith announced this week that he has selected Parker Executive Search to conduct a nationwide search. Parker will work alongside a 12-person search committee.
ON THE MOVE:
BOSTON COLLEGE introduced Martin Jarmond, another 2016 Next Up class member, as its next Athletics Director. Jarmond, 37, who had been deputy athletic director to Ohio State AD Gene Smith, becomes the youngest athletic director at a Power Five school. Jarmond’s departure leaves a significant void for Smith which has created an industry frenzy to fill one of the best sr level positions in the country.
PITT is searching for a new Deputy AD for External Affairs after it was announced that Julio Freire has left the department. Freire, formally the AD at TENNESSEE-MARTIN, left UTM in March of 2016 to join then PITT AD Scott Barnes.
New TENNESSEE athletic director John Currie made a splash earlier this week when he announced the addition Reid Sigmon to his senior staff. Sigmon will serve as the Vols Executive Associate AD and CEO. Prior to coming to UT, Sigmon worked for four years with the College Football Playoff.
GEORGIA is the market for a new CFO. The university announced this week that Andy Platt, who had served as the Bulldogs CFO since 2014 has left to take a job in the private sector. AD Greg McGarity noted Platt’s duties are being handled by existing staff until his replacement can be found.
CHECK PLEASE:
Our Beaver Nation, the fundraising arm of OREGON STATE Athletics, created a one-of-kind Women Leading OSU giving program. The program is designed specifically to support initiatives that directly impact the female student-athlete at OSU, including subsidizing the department’s Women LEAD professional development effort.
Second-year athletic director Ryan Ivey gets a boost to his department’s bottom line as AUSTIN PEAY’s Student Government Association voted yes, 13-4, to increased athletics fees.
Speaking of the bottom line, ILLINOIS ran a $6.2 million deficit in 2016. AD Josh Whitman delivered a presentation Monday to the university’s Senate Executive Committee on the state of Illini athletics.
The BIG 12 is seeing green. Thanks to an increase in money from bowl games the league generated more than $313 million in revenue over the course of the 2016 fiscal year. Tax documents showed the conference saw a $40 million increase in revenue for the second consecutive year.
ASSOCIATION MATTERS:
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit claiming the NCAA’s rules regarding student-athlete compensation violates the FLSA. The lawsuit was filed by former USC football player Lamar Dawson against the NCAA and PAC-12.
The NCAA has ruled that former FIU women’s basketball coach Marlin Chinn acted unethically when he gave $600 to a student-athlete, as a result Chinn received a two-year show-cause penalty. The University also received two years probation and must vacate all wins in which the ineligible student-athlete competed in.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office Civil Rights has launched investigations into NORTH DAKOTA and WINSTON-SALEM STATE. UND is being investigated after a complaint was filed alleging discrimination based upon sex. The Office of Civil Right’s paid WSSU a visit last week following a complaint regarding the university’s athletic facilities as it pertains to women’s athletics.
It was a busy week for LOUISVILLE AD Tom Jurich and his department. The Louisville Athletics Association will pay Jurich up to $6 million, and maybe more to cover an incentive deal former president James Ramsey promised Jurich back in 2014. Jurich also delivered a fiery speech defending the U of L athletic department after booster and Papa John’s pizza boss John Schnatter criticized Jurich and the department. Speaking of Papa John, it was announced this week that he had resigned from the U of L athletic association board.
Last month LSU made headlines with hopes of adding a beer garden to Tiger Stadium, SEC boss Greg Sankey, however, doesn’t seem very fond of the idea. Sankey noted that the league has a policy preventing the sale of booze in general seating areas. In other SEC news, Sankey also mentioned this week that the conference would be open to moving its football media days in the future.