Former UGA AD Damon Evans hired as athletic director at Maryland

University of Georgia Director of Athletics Damon Evans, who was arrested on a DUI traffic stop in Atlanta, addresses the media at the Rankin M. Smith, Sr. Student Athlete Academic Center in Athens on Thursday, July 1,  2010.

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

University of Georgia Director of Athletics Damon Evans, who was arrested on a DUI traffic stop in Atlanta, addresses the media at the Rankin M. Smith, Sr. Student Athlete Academic Center in Athens on Thursday, July 1, 2010.

The University of Maryland has hired Damon Evans to be its athletic director, completing the transition that started in October when Kevin Anderson took a six-month sabbatical from the post.

Evans joined the school in December 2014. He was named acting athletic director when Anderson began his sabbatical and maintained that job after Anderson resigned in April.

» More: Damon Evans opens up about Georgia exit

Maryland launched a national search for a new AD after Anderson resigned, but ended up staying close to home with its final choice.

In a statement Monday, Maryland president Wallace Loh said, "The candidates invited for interviews had impressive credentials and accomplishments. ... In Damon, the University? of Maryland? has the right person at the right time."

Over the past four years, Evans overhauled the athletics budget and financial operations, resulting in an operating surplus, according to the school.

Evans served as the director of athletics at Georgia from 2004-10.

Evans was forced out as Georgia's athletic director within days of his June 30, 2010, arrest in Atlanta on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. A 28-year-old woman, not his wife, was in the car with him at the time. Evans later pleaded guilty to DUI and was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 40 hours of community service.