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March 26 – PULLMAN – The Washington State Department of Sports is active throughout the day.
Athletic director Pat Chun will leave for the same position at rival Washington, according to reports, leaving WSU without two key figures — an athletic director and a men’s basketball coach — after Kyle Smith left for Stanford on Monday.
Chun, whose tenure at WSU began in January 2018, fills the void left by AD Troy Dannen’s previous departure from UW to Nebraska last week. In Washington state, Chun worked as a representative on the school’s school football playoff committee and oversaw WSU’s position in the conference. realignment after the Pac-12 disbanded last summer.
Chun, who also worked for 15 years at Ohio State’s Big Ten School, has made several key hires at WSU: Smith, who led the men’s basketball program in its first NCAA tournament since 2008; women’s basketball coach Kamie Ethridge, whose team earned the Pac-12 name last year and is their third straight playoff finish; and football coach Jake Dickert, whose rise from defensive coordinator to head coach led him to a 15-16 record with two wins over Wisconsin.
Chun also hired former WSU football coach Nick Rolovich, who was fired early in the 2021 season for failing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. This led to Difert’s initial promotion to interim head coach and his eventual move to full-time head coach. .
“It is indeed an honor for my family and I to enroll in the University of Washington family,” Chun said in a statement, “and I look forward to doing my part to help lift the track. “and the BOX program and the university. “
Chun’s candidacy for the position at the University of Washington, according to ESPN, was made imaginable by the experience he gained at Ohio State. There, one of his tasks was to serve as an administrative liaison with the soccer program and learn about fundraising methods that will be a vital component of his tenure in Seattle.
It’s largely an unprecedented move by Chun, whose WSU program rejected at the last minute by defections from Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten last August.
The Cougars no longer have an athletic director to hire a new men’s basketball coach, putting the program in a difficult situation. This task may be the new WSU AD’s number one priority.
The Cougars are entering an era of the unknown, one of only two Pac-12 systems left in the convention’s realignment. The football team reached an agreement with Mountain West for six games this season, and the basketball groups have done the same with the West Coast Conference. , operating as associate members as WSU and the state of Oregon attempt to use a two-year grace period to rebuild the convention.
Possible replacements for Chun Bryan Blair, Toledo AD When Blair Toledo was athletic director in May 2022, he had just left WSU, where he worked as an assistant to AD and chief operating officer for 4 years. At Pullman, he controlled the school’s Nike contract and served as Chief Diversity Officer. in Athletics and oversaw the progression of WSU’s Sports Strategic Plan. During his tenure, the Cougars doubled their annual fundraising to more than $30 million and secured 50 of the 70 largest donations in the program’s history.
Since Blair arrived in Toledo, the Rockets have won Mid-America Conference championships in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s tennis and women’s tennis — the first school in FBS history to win convention titles in all six sports in a singles season.
Toledo’s football team won the Boca Raton Bowl, the first Rockets team to win a MAC name and bowling game in 21 years. Last year, Toledo’s women’s hoop team beat No. 5 seed and Big 12 champion Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Rockets’ first NCAA win in 27 years.
WSU women’s basketball hosts Toledo on Thursday night in the WBIT quarterfinals. Perhaps Blair will be in Pullman for the party.
Leon Costello, Montana State ADA Under Costello’s direction, Bobcats football and men’s and women’s hoops have skyrocketed in recent years. The men’s basketball team just won its third straight name in the Big Sky tournament, the women’s basketball team competed in the NCAA tournament in 2022, and the football team reached the semifinals of the FCS playoffs in 2022, with a name game appearance the year before.
Costello may not have much of a connection to Washington state or the Northwest, but the eighth anniversary of his start date as MSU’s AD is approaching. Would you be interested in a promotion at Pullman?
John Johnson, Portland State AD, WSU’s senior associate sports director from 2004 to 2019, Johnson focused on outside operations, facility development and strategic plans at Pullman. In 2017, when former WSU AD Bill Moos was hired from Nebraska, Johnson served as an interim. athletic director, handing the job over to Chun, who hired him in January 2018.
Originally from Spokane Valley, Johnson then traveled to Nebraska, where he worked as a senior AD assistant from 2019 to 2021, overseeing Nebraska’s men’s basketball and administrative program. In 2022, he traveled to the state of Portland.
But Johnson’s peak professional experience came at WSU, where he worked with former AD Jim Sterk. Johnson oversaw the Cougar Athletic Fund, and when former AD Bill Moos arrived in 2010, Johnson oversaw the progression of the department’s amenities master plan, managing the design of the renovation of Martin Stadium (now Gesa Field), a $120 million task that included the structure of a new press box, Club seating and suites.
Few applicants know the wisdom of Washington state’s Johnson.
Ukaegbu, one of WSU’s 3 assistant athletic directors, has worked at WSU for the more than two years, and may be a good fit if university president Kirk Schulz needs to rent from within. He spent seven years overseeing the school’s athletic compliance operations and held positions at VCU, Boise State, Cal State Fullerton, American University, and Florida Atlantic.
Anne McCoy, WSU assistant, ADMcCoy, is another strong candidate if WSU hires staff within the school. He has worked in Washington State since 2001, where he became an AD assistant in 2013, where he now oversees WSU’s day-to-day operations and works as the sports director for men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, and rowing.
McCoy, a former vice president of the Pac-10, has the most experience of any WSU candidate.
Perhaps the only concern for Schulz: His daughter, Taylor, swam at WSU and graduated in 2022. Her son, Jake, is in top school and has committed to swimming in Tennessee. Is it conceivable that McCoy and her husband, Brian, will consider moving elsewhere once their two children leave home?