CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) Northern Iowa hired David Harris as its new athletic director Wednesday.
Harris, who is currently a senior associate athletic director at Iowa State, will take over for Troy Dannen at the end of March. Dannen left the school to become the athletic director at Tulane in December.
Harris has been with the Cyclones since 2006. He's the sports administrator for football, men's basketball and wrestling, and is in charge of oversight for NCAA compliance and other areas for Iowa State. Harris also worked at Wisconsin under current Cyclones athletic director Jamie Pollard and at Mississippi, where Harris played football.
''He has a wealth of experience in athletic department operations at three different Division I universities,'' Northern Iowa president Bill Ruud said. ''David brings strategic thinking, intellect, enthusiasm and passion to the table, which is exactly what we were looking for.''
Harris will take over a program anchored by two long-time Panthers coaches, Ben Jacobson (men's basketball) and Mark Farley (football).
Jacobson has turned down multiple opportunities to jump to a bigger school, and last spring he signed a 10-year extension after leading the Panthers to 31 wins and a top-10 ranking. Farley just finished his 15th season as the head of Northern Iowa's football program, a consistent playoff contender at the FCS level.
The Panthers have also become a factor in wrestling, though they struggled this season.
''UNI is truly a special place, and my family and I are extremely excited about becoming part of the Panther family,'' Harris said.
