Missouri is set to hire UNLV’s Desiree Reed-Francois as its next athletic director, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Reed-Francois, who has led UNLV’s athletic department since 2017, will replace Jim Sterk, who announced last month that he would step down once a replacement is found. The 49-year-old Reed-Francois, a former rower at UCLA, will become the first female athletic director in Missouri history, and the second in SEC history following Vanderbilt’s Candice Storey Lee.
She had been a candidate for several Power 5 athletic director vacancies in recent years, including UCLA in 2020 and Northwestern earlier this year. Before coming to UNLV, Reed-Francois oversaw Virginia Tech’s football program as a deputy athletic director. She also held assistant athletic director roles at Tennessee, Fresno State and other schools.
Sterk has led Missouri’s athletic department since 2016, and hired football coach Eliah Drinkwitz in 2019.
The hire was first reported by Yahoo Sports.