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Lee Fowler's Tenure Comes To An End (Updating Throughout The Day)

By Akula Wolf on May 4 2010, 12:52p  @akulawolf 21

Fowler, 58, will continue to work through June 30 and will be paid through the remainder of his contract, which is worth $280,000 annually until Sept. 2013.

The school is scheduled to make an official announcement this afternoon. Further details of the buyout arrangement were not immediately available.

Sweet deal, Lee. All due kudos to the visionaries who put that extension together back in 2007.

Let's see how he's taking the news.

i get a mill-yun bucks, la la la la la-la, i get a mill-yun bucks, la la la la la-la, i get a mill-yun bucks, la la la la la-la, i get a ..

(I should probably note for those who don't follow it that the Twitter account is fake.)

Update: here's the release from NC State.

North Carolina State Director of Athletics, Lee Fowler, will step down effective June 30, Chancellor Randy Woodson announced today. Woodson will name an interim director prior to Fowler’s departure and a national search will begin immediately for his replacement, he said.

"Lee Fowler and I talked on Monday and we agreed that now is the appropriate time to make a change," said Woodson.

The chancellor expressed his appreciation for Fowler’s accomplishments, which include the successful completion of a seven-year, $120 million capital campaign for the University Athletic Association that resulted in new athletic facilities and additional academic support for all NC State teams and student-athletes.

"I’ve made many friends and worked with terrific coaches, athletes and administrators at NC State," Fowler said. "I am honored to have served this university for 10 years, but this is the right time for me and my family to seek other opportunities."

There's a full statement from Fowler at that link.

Update II with some links/reactions:

-- Jim Young @ ACCSJ.

-- Tudor:

Will Lee Fowler one day be remembered as the athletic director who made two of the best coaching hires in N.C. State history?

No. (Sure hope I'm wrong about that.)

-- TBJ:

NCSU spokesman Keith Nichols said that a search committee will be set up to find a new AD, though he didn’t know the makeup of the committee or its time frame for selecting candidates.

They've got a little under two months until Fowler is out the door for good...can they find a replacement by then?

Update III:

-- Much more from the Triangle Business Journal, which provides some clarifications: (ht: Joe Ovies)

1.) Fowler has known since March that he was finished on 6/30. Woodson: “The ability for him to continue to be successful in this environment is clearly compromised.”

2.) Woodson said a buyout was appropriate because "he deserved it."

3.) "If Fowler gets another job that pays the same as his salary at NCSU or more, NCSU will not have to pay the buyout. If Fowler gets a job that pays less, NCSU will have to make up the difference, Woodson said."

4.) NCSU will look into hiring a search firm.