Georgia State President Mark Becker said on Tuesday that a new athletic director could be named within a week and should certainly be named within the next two weeks.
“We are getting close,” he said.
He wouldn’t comment on any candidates other than to say the university is “only interested in people that are the complete package, people that understand and have a track record of success both externally and internally.”
After five years as athletic director, Cheryl Levick transitioned to a new job on July 1 as a special assistant to Becker. She has spent part of the summer dealing with a health issue that she referenced as one of the reasons that she left as a.d.
The search for the athletic director has been led by the Atlanta-based firm of Parker Executive Search.
Becker said he had no news to share regarding the $300 million proposal to purchase Turner Field and turn it into a mixed-use university/retail complex that would include a football stadium, baseball stadium and dorms for the university.
Earlier this summer, Becker said Georgia State was considering trying to see if its representatives would be allowed to examine the stadium to see if it could be retro-fit for football. Becker said they have since pivoted after deciding it would be too expensive to perform that due diligence when there is still so much that is undecided.
The Turner Field stadium and surrounding land can’t be put up for sale until the Braves decide if they are going to extend their lease. That decision doesn’t have to be made until the end of 2015. The Braves are scheduled to open a new stadium in Cobb County in 2017.
If the lease isn’t exercised and bids are accepted on the land, Georgia State will likely be competing with other interested parties for the property.
“We are very encouraged by the fact that the mayor (Kasim Reed) has been very supportive,” Becker said. “Clearly, he’s not committed to any particular outcome, but every time I’ve heard him speak, or others have heard him speak, he says he likes what we are proposing. We are very enthusiastic but there’s a process that must be followed.”
Becker said he is still reviewing last week’s change in the NCAA governance structure. Like many people, he said it is too early to tell how the change could affect Georgia State.
“We are very supportive of doing what we can do to provide for student welfare, which has been the primary motivating factor behind these changes,” he said.
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