In somewhat of a surprise hire, San Diego State has hired Jim Sterk away from Pac-10 school Washington State to be the new athletic director in San Diego. Sterk had not been on the list of the final 3 candidates as chosen by the search committee, in fact it is sort of a mystery where his name came from. It seems as though the secrecy involved might have been because of the fact that Sterk was a current working AD for another school.

After watching the video of the press conference that was held today, it seems as though SDSU president Stephen Weber may have chosen Sterk as a personal candidate and the other 3 candidates that were considered finalists by the search which were UCLA Senior Associate Athletic Director Ross Bjork, Michigan Senior Associate Athletic Director Joe Parker and University of Massachusetts AD John McCutcheon (withdrew his name earlier) whom apparently were informed Friday that SDSU had made their decision according to an article in the San Diego Union Tribune which was released last Friday.

Sterk has been the athletic director at Washington State for the past 10 years, being hired in 2000. Other than the fact that SDSU had been reported as looking for candidates with a strong fund raising background, it is unclear why they went with Sterk over the other candidates. I will try to post the video for today's press conference as soon as they post in on YouTube. Jim Sterk apparently has been successful is increasing charitable contributions at Washington State in his tenure but the performance of his athletic teams are nothing to write home about. Post in the comments below if you have any insight into this hiring or have any knowledge of Sterk's past accomplishments at AD.