New Mexico AD Paul Krebs on Friday "announced his retirement" amid mounting "questions and state investigations about spending public money on a fundraising golf junket to Scotland" in '15, according to Geoff Grammer of the ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL. Krebs was the "longest tenured" AD in Mountain West Conference history after 11 years on the job. In recent weeks, the heat has been "turned up after admissions Krebs used public money" for a '15 golf trip for three boosters, a "possible violation of the state Constitution’s anti-donation clause, and formal investigations have been launched by the state auditor and attorney general." Krebs "insists he was not asked to resign." He said, "I would tell you that it was my desire to retire." Krebs was hired in '06 after serving as AD at Bowling Green State. UNM interim President Chaouki Abdallah said that an interim AD "will be named while a national search for Krebs’ permanent replacement is conducted." Abdallah “'will be involved in both hiring decisions,' though it is unclear if an outside search firm will be used to identify candidates" (ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, 6/3).
NEXT PERSON UP: CBSSPORTS.com's Matt Norlander noted Krebs "will now need to be replaced on the 10-person panel that seeds and selects the teams to compete" in the men's NCAA Basketball Tournament. This marks the "second time in 10 months that the NCAA has unexpectedly faced a roster change" from its MWC rep. Krebs in effect replaced former San Diego State AD Jim Sterk, who was "forced to give up his seat at the table" after he became Missouri AD last year. It is the MWC's responsibility to "name its replacement for Krebs and it appears it will be moving quickly." NCAA Senior VP/Basketball Dan Gavitt said, "It doesn't have to be an athletic director. It could be someone in a senior associate position. But the position is very attractive. People are dying to serve on the committee. I suspect it would be a high-ranking official" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/3).
