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Pete ThamelESPN
The University of Nevada is expected to hire LSU executive deputy athletic director/COO Stephanie Rempe as the school’s new athletic director, sources told ESPN.
Rempe is one of the country’s most respected deputy athletic directors, as she played a prominent role in the recent spree of high-profile LSU hires – Brian Kelly (football), Matt McMahon (men’s basketball) and Kim Mulkey (women’s basketball). Her role at LSU includes overseeing “every facet of the daily operations” of the athletic department, per LSU athletics.
Rempe will take over in Reno for Doug Knuth, who left after the sides mutually agreed to part ways back in April. Knuth had been at Nevada since 2013 and oversaw a generally successful run in football and men’s basketball during that stretch.
In Rempe, Nevada gets a veteran administrator with a wide swath of experience that was attractive to school officials. Nevada’s new president, Brian Sandoval, is a former governor of the state with limited experience in the collegiate athletics space. He hired someone with an extensive administrative history.
Rempe’s breadth of experience was appealing, as her time at LSU included a national title in football, guiding the athletic department through the COVID-19 addled year of 2020, forging the school’s NIL program, spearheading LSU’s role in the social justice movement to helping overhaul LSU’s “commitment to the prevention of sexual and domestic violence.”
Along with a prominent executive deputy role under Scott Woodward at LSU, she’s also worked in the same role at Texas A&M for three years prior to arriving at LSU in 2019. Prior to that, Rempe worked as a senior associate athletic director at Washington (2008-16), a senior associate athletic director at Oklahoma (2003-08) and an associate athletic director at UTEP (1998-2003).
Rempe is a former volleyball star at Arizona, where she lettered four years and began her career in college athletics as a senior program coordinator (1995-98). Rempe will become the second female athletic director in Nevada history, joining former athletic director Cary Groth (2004-13). Rempe will become the only female athletic director in the Mountain West Conference.