Four initial candidates emerge in Maryland's ongoing athletic director search

The University of Maryland entered a pivotal stretch last month after president Darryll Pines was tasked with filling both the men’s basketball head coach and athletic director roles. Pines and interim athletic director Colleen Sorem moved quickly to pry Buzz Williams away from College Station to take over the men’s basketball program with already over half the roster filled, but the athletic director search remains ongoing with “six to eight week” timeframe to fill the role, according to Pines.

Despite no official announcement by the university as Pines said, Maryland officially hired TurnKey as its search firm last week to navigate the process. According to the Baltimore Sun, four have emerged among the field of candidates with the process still in its early stages and interviews expected to begin at the end of the month.

Air Force athletic director Nathan Pine, Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt, George Washington athletic director Michael Lipitz and former Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue are among the candidates for the athletic director role, Taylor Lyons of the Baltimore Sun wrote.

LaBue, a 2001 Maryland graduate, has been a consistent name for the vacancy since the search first emerged as he and Pines connected in the days after the search unofficially began. While he has yet to work in the college ranks, LaBue previously worked for the Washington Redskins and Monumental Sports before spending eight years with the Carolina Panthers. LaBue currently serves as the president of Charlotte FC, but his interest in the role remains real with booster support aiding his chances.

Lipitz, a Maryland and Villanova grad, spent nearly 12 years at Maryland as the senior associate athletic director beginning in 1999 before moving onto NC State as the deputy athletic director. Lipitz is in his first year as the associate vice president and director of athletics at George Washington, though his familiarity as a former Maryland student-athlete gives him a unique perspective after graduating as captain of the men’s tennis team.

Pine served as the deputy athletic director at Maryland for three years beginning in 2011 before moving onto Holy Cross then Air Force as the athletic administrator where he’s served since 2019.

Batt also spent four years with the athletic department, including three years in a director role of the Terrapin Club back in 2011 before materializing into a brief candidate in 2018.

“I have a wish, if it could be done today, if it could be done at the same time, it’d be perfect,” Pines said after Buzz Williams was introduced last week. “You know, it's a process of probably going to evolve over six to eight weeks. What I've been telling everybody is my hope is to announce on Monday, the process and the search firm that is going to work with us. That's my goal.”

Related Links