Michigan State is set to hire Bill Beekman as athletic director, a person with knowledge of the decision said Saturday. Beekman has been the interim head of the troubled athletic department since early February.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.
Beekman took over on an interim basis shortly after athletic director Mark Hollis retired following the sex abuse scandal involving former sports doctor Larry Nassar and just before ESPN reported allegations of sexual assault and violence against women involving Michigan State football and basketball players. The report questioned how the athletic department handled those cases.
Beekman has also been a vice president of the school and secretary of its board.
Interim school president John Engler appointed Beekman as interim AD on Feb. 5. Engler said no internal candidates would be considered for the AD job, but Beekman is now on the verge of having his interim tag removed.
Beekman, who has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State, joined the school as an administrator in 1995. He was the assistant dean for finance and planning in the College of Human Medicine. He's also served as a senior consultant to the provost and to the vice president for finance and operations - and as executive director of the MSU Alumni Association.
The NCAA sent a letter to Michigan State in January asking for any potential rules violations related to Nassar, who is serving decades in prison for assault and child pornography crimes. Hundreds of women, including gold medal-winning Olympic gymnasts, said they were abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment while he was working for both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State. An attorney for the university told the governing body of college sports in March that nothing Nassar did at the university violated NCAA rules.
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