Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

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Who might take Hamrick’s place?

Beyond the Sun

Even before the official announcement that Mike Hamrick was resigning as UNLV athletic director to take the same job at Marshall University, speculation had begun about who would replace him.

According to sources, there will not be a national search to identify Hamrick’s replacement because A) it costs too much and B) there is no shortage of persons qualified to run the program who already live here.

Any list of would-be replacements for Hamrick would almost certainly include Dwaine Knight, the UNLV golf coach and fundraiser extraordinaire; Thomas & Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium Director Daren Libonati; longtime local arena operator and UNLV alumnus Steve Stallworth; and Las Vegas 51s President Don Logan.

Each, based on his credentials and experience, would make an excellent athletic director. But the name that keeps popping up first is that of Tina Kunzer-Murphy, a Las Vegas native, former UNLV athlete and coach and current director of the wildly successful Las Vegas Bowl college football game.

In addition to her deep ties to the university and Las Vegas community, Kunzer-Murphy recently landed a multiyear sponsorship deal with MAACO body shops to become title sponsor of the Las Vegas Bowl, which under her leadership has attracted sellout crowds in each of the past four seasons. Industry sources said the MAACO deal was a major coup, considering how stingy sponsorship dollars have become during tough economic times.

“I already have a wonderful job,” Kunzer-Murphy said. “But if it happens that the university decides it would want to talk to me about the athletic director’s job, I would be flattered.

“It has always been my dream job.”

UNLV has announced that Jerry Koloskie, the longtime associate athletic director, would serve as interim athletic director until a replacement for Hamrick is found.

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