Southern Methodist is targeting Maryland athletic director Damon Evans for its athletics director role, sources told CBS Sports.
A deal has not been finalized, but sources expect Evans to accept the role. He would replace Rick Hart, who helped guide SMU into the Atlantic Coast Conference last year. Evans, who was previously the Georgia athletic director, has been at Maryland since 2014 and has worked as the school’s AD since 2018. He was recently named to the College Football Playoff’s selection committee.
SMU recently hired away Jay Hartzell from Texas to be its new president. Hartzell is believed to have made a run at Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte, who brushed away those rumors in February.
The Terrapins are scheduled to play 13-seed Grand Canyon on Friday afternoon. Willard previously spent 12 seasons coaching in the Big East at Seton Hall and sources have indicated he still has a strong affinity for the conference.
Speaking ahead of the first-round game, Willard said Evans “is probably going to SMU,” and spoke about the challenges of NIL demands.
The timing of SMU’s run at Evans is particularly interesting for Maryland as speculation continues to swirl around Villanova’s interest in Terrapins basketball coach Kevin Willard. He guided Maryland to a second-place regular season finish in the Big Ten and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
If Evans leaves, it is unclear who would be the interim AD and what impact that could have on contract negotiations with Willard.
Villanova fired Kyle Neptune after three seasons in which the Wildcats did not make an NCAA Tournament berth. Neptune succeeded Jay Wright, who won two national championships at the Philadelphia-area school.
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