Search for new athletics director down to three

The future of VCU athletics lies in the hands of the new athletics director. Who those hands belong to has yet to be determined.

VCU will host a series of visits for extensive meetings and public sessions with the candidates for AD beginning April 5 after they conducted a nationwide search for potential replacements for AD Richard L. Sander.

Sander, who is retiring from his position July 1, will continue to assist President Eugene P. Trani and to remain involved with the Athletics Department as the full-time executive director of VCU SportsCenter.

Part of the on-campus interview process includes a question, answer and comment session where faculty, staff and students can all come and hear what the candidates plan to bring to the table if hired as the new AD.

The first to come for the sessions is Paul Griffin, the senior associate athletic director for Georgia Institute of Technology, who is set to speak at 10 a.m. Thursday. Norwood Teague, the associate athletic director for marketing and promotions for the University of North Carolina, will speak at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 11, and Jerry Baker, director of athletics for the College of Charleston, will be speak at 10 a.m. on April 13.

The first of the sessions will be held Thursday at the University Student Commons in Virginia Room C, and the second and third will be in Virginia Room A.

Co-chairs Michael Pratt, director of the Virginia Center for Urban Development and a professor in the Department of economics, and Peter Wyeth, the vice president for advancement, lead the search committee for the new AD.