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Damon Evans will take over as Maryland’s athletic director on a full-time basis, the school confirmed Monday.
Proud to announce Damon Evans as Director of Athletics for the University of Maryland!
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) June 25, 2018
Full Release: https://t.co/Uha69m6jMg pic.twitter.com/PDBKOMgUpF
Evans had been the school’s acting athletic director since Maryland put his predecessor Kevin Anderson on sabbatical in October. Evans was up against Temple AD Patrick Kraft and former Tennessee AD John Currie, and interviews reportedly took place last week.
“Throughout his tenure here, Damon has demonstrated visionary, transparent, compassionate and ethical leadership,” university president Wallace Loh said in a statement. “The candidates invited for interviews had impressive credentials and accomplishments. In the end, a senior leadership search is not only about capabilities. It is also about institutional fit and interpersonal trust and chemistry. In Damon, the University of Maryland has the right person at the right time.”
This represents a second chance for Evans, who last held an athletic director position at the University of Georgia from 2004 to 2010 before a DUI arrest brought his time there to an end. Evans worked private sector jobs from 2010 to 2014 before rejoining the world of college athletics as Maryland’s senior associate athletic director and chief financial officer, a position he held until Anderson went on leave, a leave that became permanent in April.
“It is a great honor to be chosen to lead at the University of Maryland,” Evans added in the statement. “Since the day I arrived, I have been inspired by the student-athletes, coaches and support team that strive for success in Maryland Athletics, and I look forward to many successes ahead in our Big Ten era. I’m guided by the principle that we learn from our wins and losses, and I am eager to lead an athletics department that ultimately achieves greatness together.”
Evans is a former wide receiver for Georgia, and his tenure as the Bulldogs’ AD started strong with an Equity in Athletics Data Analysis report naming the school the most profitable athletic department in the country in just his second season on the job.
Evans will officially take the reigns as athletic director on July 2.