New Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk comes with pedigree from San Diego State
Sterk had a bunch of success with the Aztecs that the Tigers hope carries over to their Power Five conference team
By
Dennis Dodd
•
1 min read
San Diego State's Jim Sterk is the new Missouri athletic director, according to multiple reports Monday afternoon.
Sterk, 60, takes over for Mack Rhoades, who left for Baylor in July after only 15 months on the job. San Diego State's two main sports, basketball and football, have thrived under Sterk, who is leaving the Aztecs after six-plus years.
He was appointed to the powerful NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee in May.
In 2011, Sterk hired Rocky Long, who is coming off a Mountain West title in his fifth season as the Aztecs' football coach. Sterk inherited Steve Fisher, who has led the basketball team to NCAA Tournament berths in five of the last six seasons.
Fisher led San Diego State to two Sweet 16s with Sterk as his boss.
Sterk takes over at an athletic department and campus in disarray. The school has been without a permanent president or chancellor since the student protests of last fall.
Last November, the football team threatened to boycott a November nonconference game against BYU if then-president Timothy Wolfe wasn't removed. Wolfe eventually resigned amid the protests sparked by racial unrest on campus.
Since then, Missouri has seen a decline in enrollment. First-year football coach Barry Odom has taken over Gary Pinkel, who resigned following the season after a cancer diagnosis.
