As UW Seeks a New AD, Here's Another Name to Consider

The St. John's leader has a prior Montlake connection.

As the University of Washington continues its search for a new athletic director to replace Jen Cohen, who left for USC 10 days ago, some obvious names to consider are those with prior connections to the department.

Among them in the Pacific time zone are Oregon State University AD Scott Barnes and University of Nevada AD Stephanie Rempe.

Barnes worked as a UW senior associate athletic director in 2005-08 and Rempe in the same position in 2008-16, so they're both well-acquainted with the Montlake landscape.

Not so obvious, yet even more attractive as a candidate, is St. John's athletic director Mike Cragg, who similarly holds a Husky connection.

Cragg, 59, spent 30 years at Duke in different capacities, working closely with the Blue Devils basketball program for two decades as an assistant AD, before he was hired in 2018 to oversee the entire St. John's athletic department.

This past spring, Cragg reached out and hired the well-traveled and sometimes controversial Rick Pitino, who won NCAA basketball championships at Kentucky and Louisville, and coached in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, as the Red Storm coach. 

UW grad Mike Cragg is currently the St. John's athletic director :: Wendell Cruz/USA TODAY Sports

As everyone knows, the UW basketball program, coached by Mike Hopkins, could use a supple boost to make it a regular NCAA tournament participant again after qualifying just once in the past dozen years.

A Yakima native, Cragg graduated in communications from the UW in 1986, while working in sports information, before joining Duke and becoming its lead communicator. 

While at the school, he moved into athletic administration and, among his accomplishments, oversaw reconstruction of the Blue Devils football team's Wallace Wade Stadium, turning it into a modern facility. 

The roll call of athletic directors nationwide with UW connections includes LSU's Scott Woodward, the recently retired Gary Barta at Iowa, Barnes, Remke, Cohen and Cragg.

Among assistant athletic directors with prior Husky work histories are Richard Kilwien at UC San Diego and Jim Daves at Virginia.

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