The Univ. of Missouri "has tabbed" San Diego State AD Jim Sterk for the same position, and he will "begin his post" on Sept. 1 pending approval by the school's System Board of Curators, according to Joe Walljasper of the COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE. The Board of Curators "will hold a special meeting" today at 5:30pm CT "to discuss contracts and personnel matters." Sterk "has spent the last six years" at SDSU after serving as AD at Washington State from '00-10 and Portland State from '95-'00. A source said that Sterk "would be a good fit and described him as 'not a flashy guy but very balanced, great experience, very ethical and really steady.'" MU "has been in the market" for a full-time AD since Mack Rhoades announced he was leaving for Baylor on July 13. Since then, MU has had three interim ADs. Sterk "was making a base salary of $315,000 annually" at SDSU and is "under contract" through '20. Rhoades' salary at MU was $600,000. Search firm Collegiate Sports Associates helped MU conduct the search (COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE, 8/9).
STOCK MARKET: In San Diego, Bryce Miller notes Sterk’s "stock skyrocketed" after he was named one of the NCAA’s top four major-college ADs in May and was added to the NCAA D-I men’s basketball committee. Sterk just led SDSU to a "record athletic fundraising year." He also "wrapped up funding" for the $15.8M JAM Center basketball facility (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/9). In K.C., Tod Palmer notes Sterk "has proven to be an adept fundraiser, more than doubling the fundraising total for scholarships during his tenure." One of Sterk’s colleagues said he is an "even-keeled and knowledgeable administrator." Another colleague "praised the job Sterk did at Washington State, saying Pullman, Wash., isn’t an easy place to build a competitive athletic program." Meanwhile, Sterk's hire "might mean" his appointment to the D-I men’s basketball committee "is withdrawn." The committee "can’t include two members from the same conference," and Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart "was chosen to the committee along with Sterk" (K.C. STAR, 8/9).
REBUILDING PROCESS: In St, Louis, Dave Matter in a front-page piece notes other candidates "linked to" MU's AD search included Tulsa’s Derrick Gragg, East Carolina’s Jeff Compher and SMU's Rick Hart. Two former MU athletes outside of the AD world had also "drawn strong support" around the state: former basketball player Jon Sundvold and Mike Owens, a former Mizzou football player who was a top-ranking executive at A-B for nearly 30 years. But sources indicated in recent weeks that MU interim Chancellor Hank Foley "preferred a sitting AD, not an industry outsider" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/9). CBSSPORTS.com's Dennis Dodd noted Sterk "takes over at an athletic department and campus in disarray." The school "has been without a permanent president or chancellor" since last year's protests by student-athletes (CBSSPORTS.com, 8/8).
STRAIGHT SHOOTER: In St, Louis, Ben Frederickson writes there is "a lot to like in this move." Searches for red flags such as poor academic ratings or NCAA run-ins "come up empty." Sterk is "respected by his AD peers and the journalists who have covered his program." Sterk also is "known as a straight shooter who doesn’t spend money his department doesn’t have, an increasingly rare trait in the current state of college athletics." The fit is the "biggest unknown here," as Sterk "must pick up the pieces and return a sense of pride to a place he can’t possibly know much about." His track record suggests he "isn’t an early exit kind of guy." His age (60) and the age of his children (all in their 20s) "suggest this might be his last stop" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/9).
GIGANTIC LOSS: The UNION-TRIBUNE's Miller writes the timing "couldn’t be worse" for SDSU. Sterk in June said that that SDSU craves "a big-money, big-stage seat" in a Power Five conference. SDSU also is "evaluating options related to its current football home in Mission Valley, where Qualcomm Stadium waits for the Chargers to sort through their facility future." Talk "continues to circulate, too, about a potential partnership" between SDSU and an MLS team. It is an athletic department "harboring bold ideas about brave steps," at least it "was that kind of department, under Sterk." SDSU's long-term future "now sits in limbo until a new leader is identified" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/9).
