Desiree Reed-Francois signs contract to become UNLV athletic director

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Saturday, April 15, 2017 | 6:40 p.m.

Updated Sunday, April 16, 2017 | 6:30 p.m.

According to a source, Desiree Reed-Francois has signed a contract to become UNLV's next athletic director. UNLV plans to formally introduce Reed-Francois at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Reed-Francois emerged as the leading candidate after a round of interviews with UNLV president Len Jessup last week, and the two sides had been working toward a deal for the last two days.

Terms of the contract are still unknown. When Tina Kunzer-Murphy's interim tag was removed in 2013, she was initially given a three-year contract.

UNLV nearing deal with Desiree Reed-Francois to become next AD

According to multiple sources, UNLV closing in on a deal with Desiree Reed-Francois to become the school’s next athletic director.

The agreement is not finalized, but a source said Reed-Francois and UNLV were trending toward an agreement by the end of the weekend, with an official announcement on track to come as early as Monday or Tuesday.

Reed-Francois is currently the deputy AD at Virginia Tech. A UCLA grad, she has a law degree from Arizona and has worked in college athletics for nearly 20 years. Before her time at Virginia Tech, Reed-Francois was the interim athletic director at Cincinnati in 2014.

The hiring process began in October, when it was announced that current AD Tina Kunzer-Murphy would be leaving her post for a new role in fundraising at the end of the academic year. In January, UNLV brought in a search firm, Collegiate Sports Associates, to produce a preliminary list of candidates. The school then convened a 13-person search committee made up of UNLV administrators to narrow down CSA’s list to a group of 6-10 finalists. Last week, those finalists met with UNLV president Len Jessup in Salt Lake City for a round of interviews, at which point Reed-Francois emerged as the frontrunner.

On Friday, UNLV offered the job to Reed-Francois. Jessup is out of town for the Easter holiday, and a source said Reed-Francois is not currently in Las Vegas, but that hasn’t stopped negotiations, and as of Saturday the two sides were on the verge of an agreement.

According to one source, other finalists for the job included Arizona senior associate athletics director Mike Ketcham and Duke deputy AD Mike Cragg.

Reed-Francois’ responsibilities at Virgnia Tech include overseeing the football program, marketing, communications and ticketing. According to the Virginia Tech website, she was instrumental in hiring football coach Justin Fuente in 2016.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.