Diana Sabau’s tenure as the athletic director at Utah State University is reportedly over.
According to multiple reports Tuesday night, the first by CollegeAD.com, Sabau is leaving Logan to take a job at the University of Maryland as a deputy athletic director.
Sabau has been the AD at Utah State for just under two years, having officially stepped into the role Aug. 7, 2023.
Per SportsBiz consultant KC Smurthwaite, Sabau’s buyout is $500,000.
The first full-time female athletic director in Utah State history, Sabau presided over six Mountain West Conference championships:
- Men’s basketball (2023-24).
- Women’s soccer (2023-24 and 2024-25).
- Men’s tennis (2023-24).
- Women’s volleyball (2023-24).
- Women’s gymnastics (2024-25).
She also had notable success raising funds for USU athletics, helping bring in $34 million in gifts and pledges over the last two years.
As part of that, she helped secure two $10 million-plus gifts, the largest in Utah State history.
Sabau also notably hired men’s basketball coach Jerrod Calhoun, women’s basketball coach Wesley Brooks and, most recently, football coach Bronco Mendenhall.
The move to Maryland is a homecoming of sorts for Sabau, who prior to her time at Utah State worked in the Big Ten Conference, either at the conference itself or at Ohio State University.
Immediately prior to joining Utah State, Sabau served as deputy commissioner and chief sports officer for the Big Ten, a role that saw her oversee administration of all 28 of the BIG’s sponsored sports.
While at Ohio State, Sabau worked as senior deputy athletics director where she was the sports administrator for football, women’s ice hockey and the co-ed rifle and pistol programs.
Sabau’s departure means Utah State will be without both a university president and an athletic director for the second time in just over two years, not counting interim presidents and ADs.
Earlier this year, Elizabeth Cantwell stepped down as USU’s president in order to take the same position at Washington State.
Cantwell had replaced Noelle Cockett, who stepped down from the Utah State president’s role in July, 2023. In Nov. 2022, then-USU AD John Hartwell resigned his position, creating the vacancy that was eventually filled by Sabau.
Now, Utah State will once again be in the market for an AD, with Pac-12 membership beckoning next summer.