Damon Evans, who was hired at Maryland in 2014 and has been holding the temporary position of acting athletic director since April, has been named the school's permanent athletic director, the university announced on Monday.
Evans will begin his new role on July 2, while the athletic department is in the midst of a school-issued external investigation into the death of 19-year-old football player Jordan McNair. The review could take up to 90 days, according to the school.
Evans has a close relationship with Maryland coach D.J. Durkin, who is awaiting the results of the investigation into whether the trainers and staff followed protocol on May 29, when McNair needed to be hospitalized after struggling to complete 10 110-yard sprints.
"The candidates invited for interviews had impressive credentials and accomplishments," University of Maryland president Wallace D. Loh said in a prepared statement. "In the end, a senior leadership search is not only about capabilities. It is also about institutional fit and interpersonal trust and chemistry. In Damon, the University of Maryland has the right person at the right time."
Evans' resume has come under scrutiny, though, as he came to College Park after he was fired as Georgia's athletic director in July 2010. He was charged with a DUI in Atlanta and arrested, along with a 28-year-old female passenger, according to the police report.
Before Maryland, Evans was a managing partner at Evolution Sports Partners in New Jersey, vice president of fundraising at IMG College in Winston-Salem, N.C., and vice president of business development at the Markley Group in Boston.
He earned a bachelor's degree in finance in 1992 and a master's degree of education in sports management in 1994, both from Georgia, where he was also a four-year starter on the football team.
"It is a great honor to be chosen to lead at the University of Maryland," Evans said in a prepared statement. "Since the day I arrived, I have been inspired by the student-athletes, coaches and support team that strive for success in Maryland athletics, and I look forward to many successes ahead in our Big Ten era. I'm guided by the principle that we learn from our wins and losses, and I am eager to lead an athletics department that ultimately achieves greatness together."
Maryland will hold a news conference for Evans on Tuesday.