Rice athletic director Tommy McClelland has emerged as the primary target in Purdue's athletic director search, sources told ESPN on Monday.
The deal was expected to come together in the coming days, per ESPN sources, as there are steps remaining that include formal approval by Purdue's board of trustees.
McClelland, 44, is a veteran in the space, as he has been a sitting athletic director for nearly two decades. That includes his nearly three years at Rice and stints at both McNeese (2008-13) and Louisiana Tech (2013-20).
But the stint that has the most relevance for McClelland's hire was a recent stop as Vanderbilt's deputy athletic director, where he was the football sport administrator and ran external affairs and revenue generation.
McClelland worked closely with football coach Clark Lea during his early years there and also helped fundraise for the complete facility overhaul on Vanderbilt's campus. The Vandy United campaign he oversaw was the largest athletics fundraising campaign in school history.
At Rice, McClelland hired Scott Abell from Davidson and Rob Lanier as the men's basketball coach. He has earned a reputation as a strong fundraiser and helped modernize Rice, including the announcement in November of a $120 million wholesale stadium renovation. That included a reduction in stadium size to focus on premium ticketing.
Before Rice, McClelland had a long and successful stint at Louisiana Tech, which included reaching and winning bowl games in his final six seasons. His staffs at Louisiana Tech included Virginia Tech athletic director Brian White and current Louisiana Tech AD Ryan Ivey.
McClelland made waves when he was hired at McNeese at age 26 in 2008.
He's set to take over for Mike Bobinski, who announced his retirement earlier this year for the end of the calendar year. He'd been there since August 2016.