Arizona’s two largest public universities are dealing with fallout connected to their athletic departments, including staffing shuffles at the highest levels of their departments.
On Monday night, news broke that the University of Arizona would be shuffling its leadership. Athletic Director Dave Heeke is heading out, replaced with former softball coach Mike Candrea.
Candrea will lead on an interim basis, and Heeke is expected to officially leave his position on February 2.
The shuffle came as the university prepares to face an investigation into how it lost track of $240 million, a gaping hole in funding that was brought to light by the university itself in November.
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“Certainly, in terms of optics, it’s a big concern,” said Shane Dale, co-host of the Wildcat Country podcast . “And I think those who say, ‘well, athletics is too much of a driver of what happens at these universities,’ [they] are going to look at this and say ‘what the heck happened to $240 million?'”