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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Bartow named interim athletics director at San Diego State
Tuesday June 17, 2003
SAN DIEGO (AP) Former UCLA basketball coach Gene Bartow was
hired as the interim athletic director at San Diego State on
Monday.
Bartow, who also served as coach and AD at the University of
Alabama-Birmingham, will begin a three-month term on July 1. San
Diego State is rebuilding its department after an audit found poor
management practices and misuse of equipment.
Rick Bay, the Aztecs' athletic director since 1995, resigned
last month in the wake of the audit by the California State
University. The university fired senior associate athletic director
Jana Doggett and placed equipment room manager Steve Bartel on
leave pending disciplinary action.
SDSU President Stephen Weber said he plans to name a permanent
athletic director by Jan. 1. He announced that a search committee
has been formed and will have its first meeting next week.
Bartow, 72, spent 23 years at Alabama-Birmingham, where he
served in the dual roles of basketball coach and athletic director,
before retiring in 2000. In his first nine years as coach of the
Blazers, he led them to seven straight NCAA tournaments.
``My goal is to make this department run as smoothly as
possible. I will try my hardest to serve San Diego State in an
honorable manner,'' Bartow said. ``The image, in my opinion, that
San Diego State enjoys nationally is one of great respect when you
think of the coaches we have on this staff.''
Steve Fisher, who won an NCAA title at Michigan, is San Diego
State's basketball coach, and alum Tony Gwynn, an eight-time NL
batting champion and member of the 3,000-hit club, is the baseball
coach.
Before moving to Alabama, Bartow took two teams to the Final
Four, including his 1973 Memphis State team which lost to UCLA in
the championship. Two years later, he succeeded John Wooden at
UCLA, going 52-9 in two seasons.
He currently serves as special adviser to the NBA's Memphis
Grizzlies.
``It's not about money. My lifestyle is not going to change
whether I'm here 90 days or not,'' Bartow said. ``It's not about
ego. I don't really need it but I do like to work.''
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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