San Diego State athletic director Jim Sterk has been named Missouris new athletic director, the university announced Tuesday.Sterk will take over by Sept. 1, according to a release provided by the university.?The 60-year-old Sterk will replace Mack Rhoades, who resigned as Missouris athletic director in July to fill the same position at Baylor.?My passion is building upon the successes of good athletic programs and helping to make them great, Sterk said in the release. Whether it is guiding and mentoring student-athletes, working with coaches to ensure they have the resources they need or cheering with the fans, I realize that athletics is one of the most visible programs at a university.Sarah Reesman had been serving as Missouris interim athletic director, its third in three weeks after interim AD Wren Baker resigned to lead North Texas athletic department.Sterk has been with San Diego State since 2010 and is a member of the NCAA Division I mens basketball committee. He was one of four winners of the?National Association of College Directors of Athletics Under Armour AD of the Year in the Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2015-16 season.Jims leadership in intercollegiate athletics is unparalleled, and we are thrilled he is going to bring his talents, energy and passion for working with student-athletes to Columbia. He is just what Mizzou needs at this time,?University of Missouri Interim Chancellor Hank Foley said in the release.?The end of Rhoades 15-month tenure as Missouri athletic director was marked by protests and controversy.Student protests on the Missouri campus over social issues and racial tensions spilled over into the athletic department last season when the football team essentially went on strike in support of the protesters, who were demanding the resignation of university systems president Tim Wolfe.Former football coach Gary Pinkel and Rhoades stood by the players, who in the end didnt miss any practice time, much less a game. Both the president and school chancellor, R. Bowen Loftin, resigned.Pinkel retired after last season and announced he was fighting cancer. Permanent replacements for Wolfe and Loftin have not been hired.Rhoades promoted defensive coordinator and former Missouri player Barry Odom to head coach, but the school, athletic department and Rhoades have faced continuing criticism from fans, boosters and state lawmakers for their handling of the players threatened boycott.Rhoades also had to hire a new baseball coach and dealt with a Title IX office investigation of softball coach Ehren Earleywine.(Sterk) has a superb winning record, is committed to the importance of diversity and inclusion efforts and will help restore pride and confidence in an athletics program that is working to overcome a challenging year, Foley said in the release.The NCAA also recently accepted Missouris self-imposed sanctions over infractions involving its mens basketball program but tacked on a year of probation through August of next year.The NCAA infractions committee panel said roughly $11,400 in improper inducements and benefits was given to players and a recruit by two boosters. The findings came nearly seven months after Missouri admitted NCAA violations dating to 2011.Missourinet, a website that covers news and sports in Missouri, first reported the news of Sterks hire.The Associated Press contributed to this report. Balenciaga Shoes Uk Sale . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Balenciaga Shoes Outlet Uk .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. http://www.wholesalebalenciagauk.com/ . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Balenciaga Outlet Online Uk . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. 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Minnesota meets Los Angeles on Thursday with the WNBA championship on the line in front of whats expected to be a sold-old Target Center for Game 5 (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET).The Lynx dealt with foul trouble for defensive stalwart Rebekkah Brunson, and a very intense -- if marred by a few key mistakes -- effort from the Sparks to triumph 85-79 at Staples Center on Sunday and tie the WNBA Finals best-of-five series at 2-2.Natasha Howard came in to play important minutes in place of Brunson, who has primarily guarded Sparks center Candace Parker throughout the series. And Maya Moore, who was the game-high scorer with 31 points, also spent time defensively on Parker.We fortunate, I think, to get through it, Reeve said of the time spent on the bench by Brunson. I think Tashas minutes were extremely solid, and Maya gave us a different dimension that they hadnt really had to prepare for before. She was adequate, for sure, with post defense. I thought we handled it as well as we could.In this series between the teams with the two best records in the WNBA, weve seen a little of everything.Its been an emotional Finals, just the highs and the lows of both teams being so tightly matched, Moore said. You just feel the devastation of a loss, and the highs of a win. It takes a lot to get back to that place of competing with focus.But Minnesota is the franchise that has done that the most consistently over the past six seasons. A victory Thursday would give the Lynx their fourth championship, tying the Houston Comets record.The Lynx have been carrying around this historical goal all season, but it hasnt been a burden. They came into 2016 thinking that this could be the organizations best team, and that was the case through the regular season as the Lynx set a franchise record for wins (28-6).Now theyve reached the end of the line with one more winner-take-all game, and thee fundamentals are solidly in place -- and have been for years now.dddddddddddd This coaching staff and core group of players know what theyre doing.I think because of our preparation and how weve approached every game this season, we have the ability to do some great things in situations like this, Moore said. Nothings ever guaranteed. But I think we have enough experience, that understanding of what it takes to have a game where you have no regrets. We know how to strive for perfection on the big stage. And were looking forward to this challenge again.The Lynx went through a Game 5 just last year, in fact, after a back-and-fourth WNBA Finals series with Indiana. The Fevers offense, though, just seemed spent by that point, after theyd given all they had to win Game 4 and send the series back to Minnesota. The Lynx prevailed 69-52 at Target Center.Lynx center Sylvia Fowles, who was the MVP of that series, expects this Game 5 to be close.I think its going to be very gritty, said Fowles, who has been so key both with her rebounding and clogging up space inside that the Sparks post players want. Nothing is going to come easy. We have to do what we do well.We have this thing we call hot spots, and thats where other teams are at their best shooting. We just try to take them away from those spots, let them see traffic there a little bit.The Lynx were most dominant in this series in Game 2. They made defensive adjustments from their Game 1 loss and won 79-60, which tied for the Sparks lowest point total this season. The Lynx were able to hold league MVP Nneka Ogwumike to just six shots in Game 2, and force Parker to take a lot of her 12 shots in places she didnt prefer to take them.A defensive effort similar to that will make the Lynx very hard to beat.But I feel like even in Game 3, we had a good mindset, Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen said of Minnesotas 92-75 loss last Friday, which was the game in which the Sparks were the most in control.Both teams are just fighting so hard. This series really has been what you want the Finals to be about. ' ' '