STERK HEADING SOUTH

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR Jim Sterk is leaving Washington State, reliable sources informed Cougfan.com this evening. He has reportedly accepted the AD position at San Diego State.

An official announcement of his resignation is expected at a Monday press conference.

Sterk has served as the Cougars’ Director of Athletics since June, 2000. A 1980 graduate of Western Washington University, he received his master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University. His career has seen stops at North Carolina, Maine, Seattle Pacific, Tulane, and Portland State, where he was the AD for five years before being selected by Washington State.

Sterk’s candidacy for the position at San Diego was a closely guarded secret. So secret, in fact, that his name was reportedly not one of the three candidates submitted to the SDSU administration by a 10-member campus selection committee.

He replaces Jeff Schemmel, who resigned as the Aztecs’ AD amid scandal in November.

Immediate names surfacing as Sterk’s replacement include Bill Moos, John Johnson, and Chris Del Conte.

Moos, a former Cougar football star and assistant AD, held the top position at Oregon from 1995 to 2007.

However, a non-compete clause in his buyout agreement with Oregon, which was speculated cost him the AD position at UNLV last December, may stand in the way of his potential Palouse homecoming.

When Moos resigned at Oregon, he reached a settlement agreement with the university that would pay him approximately $2 million over 10 years. Roughly $1.4 million of that remains on the books.

The agreement states: “Moos agrees that during the time he receives payment under this Agreement he will not accept employment as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics or any comparable position at a Bowl Championship Series conference school located west of the Mississippi River.”

Johnson—currently the senior associate AD at Wazzu—has previously headed the athletic departments at Eastern Washington and Weber State.

Del Conte currently is the AD at Texas Christian University, a position he has held since October. Prior to TCU he was the AD at Rice for three years. He received his masters in education, administration and supervision from WSU, where he later served as assistant AD.

Cougfan.com will have updates on this breaking news as more details come in.