AD approval set for Thursday

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

UNLV President Dr. Carol Harter apparently doesn't plan on wasting time when it comes to naming her new athletic director.

Idaho athletic director Mike Bohn, the third of three finalists for the position, had barely begun two days' worth of on-campus interviews on Monday morning when the agenda for Thursday and Friday's Board of Regents meeting in Reno was released. And the 24th item scheduled to be discussed on Thursday afternoon is headlined, "Director of Athletics Appointment, UNLV."

The one paragraph summary that accompanies the item reads: "President Carol C. Harter requests approval of the appointment of the Director of Athletics at UNLV, name, terms, and conditions of appointment to be presented at the meeting."

So it appears that Thursday will be D-Day ... Decision Day ... for Harter and company.

News of the Board of Regents item caught both university spokesman Tom Flagg and sports information director Andy Grossman off guard. Neither had seen the itenary and both said they were not aware of any pending press conferences to name the new athletic director this week.

"It may well be that (Harter) would probably introduce (the new AD) to the Board of Regents first before anything happens down here," Flagg said.

Bohn, who is following a similiar interview schedule that Montana's Wayne Hogan and East Carolina's Mike Hamrick maintained during their visits here, is scheduled to have a social gathering at the school's Foundation Building at 3 p.m. this afternoon before meeting Harter for the second time. He is then scheduled to fly back to Idaho later tonight.

Harter will then make the final call on who will replace interim athletic director Fred Albrecht, who took over the position when head football coach John Robinson resigned the AD portion of his job in late May.

Hogan, who made a very impressive showing with coaches and alums alike during his visit two weeks ago, seems to be the popular choice of many in the Rebels athletic department who believe he could come in and make a smooth transition. They are also impressed with his strong Florida State pedigree obtained while that school moved up the athletic charts in the '70s and '80s.

However, some are backing Hamrick, who has been lauded for his fund-raising efforts at East Carolina. He has spent the past 13 years as a Division I athletic director but reportedly is on the hot seat in Greenville, N.C., where his $180,000 contract is due to expire in 2005.

Bohn is considered a long shot.

This will be the third athletic director that Harter has hired in her tenure as UNLV President with very mixed results.

Robinson, a popular choice at the time he took the job, had to step away from the job in May so that he could spend more time with his ailing wife, Linda, who already has had four surgeries for breast cancer.

Harter's other major athletic director search was back in 1995 when she hired Charles Cavagnaro away from Memphis over current Missouri athletic director Mike Alden. Cavagnaro by most accounts turned out to be a major bust who later was forced to "retire" to make room for Robinson. Alden has gone on to become one of the top athletic directors in the powerful Big 12 Conference.