UNLV expects to announce finalists for AD opening early next week

UNLV officials will continue to interview candidates for the athletic director’s position this week, and hope to announce a list of finalists by early next week.

The university interviewed “six to 10” candidates last weekend in Salt Lake City, according to a source close to the situation. The source added that the field could be “one to three” by next week when UNLV makes the finalists list public.

“We’re making great progress with the athletics director search. We had a series of productive meetings over the weekend with candidates for the position, and we’ll further narrow the field as we continue conversations this week,” search committee chairwoman Nancy Rapoport said in a statement.

“These candidates have strong and varied experience at the highest levels of college athletics, and each would be an asset to UNLV. While we understand the interest in the search, we also want to be respectful of the candidates involved in the process, and expect to provide an update early next week.”

Once the field is narrowed down, the hiring process should move quickly before UNLV president Len Jessup names a replacement for Tina Kunzer-Murphy, whose contracts ends June 30. She then will move to the UNLV Foundation.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.