Collegiate Sports Associates Leading UNLV AD Search 

January 17, 2017 – Executive search firm Collegiate Sports Associates (CSA) has been tapped by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to lead its search for a new athletic director. Current AD Tina Kunzer-Murphy is stepping down from her post in June. Nancy Rapoport, special counsel to UNLV president Len Jessup, will serve as chairwoman of the search committee. UNLV will pay CSA $75,000 as well as any expenses directly related to the search, according to UNLV sources.

“Collegiate Sports Associates is a national leader with expertise coordinating broad, thorough searches that draw diverse pools of candidates with deep NCAA and Power Five experience,” said Mr. Jessup. “They’ve led successful searches at the highest levels of college athletics, and we believe they’ll help us identify candidates who can move UNLV athletics to the next level.”

The goal in going to an external search vendor, said Ms. Rapoport, is an open search, with national reach, proper feedback and “the opportunity for the president to choose the person who’s going to be right for us.”

UNLV supports varsity teams in 17 different sports. The school is a founding member of the Mountain West Conference, in the NCAA’s Division I. It is most known for its men’s basketball program. Made famous by Coach Jerry Tarkanian in the 1970s–1990s, the Runnin’ Rebels are the third most winning team in Division I basketball history by percentage.


Recruiting Industry Media Center Spotlight: Sports

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Collegiate Sports serves the recruiting needs of athletics programs at NCAA Division I universities and conferences across the U.S. The firm’s network of associates includes current and former Division I athletics directors and other senior university and conference officials, including commissioners, presidents, faculty athletics representatives, coaches, and associate athletics directors.

The firm is led by former longtime athletic director Todd Turner who has recruited professionals for a number of top university athletics programs, including those found at University of Missouri, Kansas State University, Longwood University, University of Missouri, University of New Mexico, Northern Illinois University, University of Oklahoma, Old Dominion University, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest University, and Winthrop University.

Universities Turning to Recruiters for AD Talent

UNLV is just one of an expanding number of schools turning to executive search firms to find athletics directors. Here’s a sampling of recent assignments from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media

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