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USC athletic director Pat Haden taken to hospital by paramedics after feeling light-headed
Outgoing Southern California athletic director Pat Haden became faint on campus Wednesday and was hospitalized to undergo tests.
Sports information director Tim Tessalone said the 63-year-old administrator was in stable condition and resting comfortably. No details on the type of testing were provided.
Tessalone said Haden plans to return soon to watch the university's sports teams in person.
Tessalone said Wednesday's episode was similar to one that Haden had last October in South Bend, Indiana, before a football game against Notre Dame. Haden briefly went to the hospital that day.
In this case, Tessalone said Haden was walking back from a campus meeting when he felt light-headed and sat down. Medical personnel arrived to help him but Haden was alert, talking and walked to his office before he was taken to see his doctor.
Haden, who has a pacemaker, announced last week that he will retire on June 30. The former USC quarterback will start a one-year job overseeing the renovation of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum after leaving the athletic department.
Haden has run USC's athletic department for 5 1/2 years, taking over from Mike Garrett in 2010 and leading the Trojans through a multiyear stretch of NCAA sanctions against its vaunted football program.
USC endured a two-year bowl ban, probation and significant scholarship losses for alleged misdeeds surrounding Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Reggie Bush during the tenure of former coach Pete Carroll.
Haden endured criticism around his hiring and subsequent firing of football coach Steve Sarkisian.
Haden created a large NCAA compliance program and improved graduation rates and grade point averages across the athletic department.
USC is about to embark on an extensive renovation of the 93-year-old Coliseum, which will be the home of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams this fall. Haden played for the Rams from 1976-81 before becoming a broadcaster, a practicing attorney and a successful partner of a private equity firm.
Haden cited unspecified health concerns when he stepped down from the College Football Playoff committee last October, two weeks after the episode at Notre Dame.
Haden has made four football head coaching changes during his tenure, starting when he fired Lane Kiffin at the airport five games into the 2013 season. Ed Orgeron and Clay Helton held the job on an interim basis before Haden chose Sarkisian, only to fire the former USC assistant last season.
USC has won 10 national championships in other sports during Haden's last five years, second only to the University of Florida in that span.
