DALLAS (AP) – Tennessee-Chattanooga athletic director Rick Hart has been named SMU athletic director.

SMU President R. Gerald Turner made the announcement Monday morning. Hart, who’s been UTC athletic director since 2006, was scheduled to be at a Dallas news conference Monday afternoon.

Hart will replace Steve Orsini, who was fired May 17, a month after SMU hired Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown. Orsini had been SMU’s athletic director since 2006.

SMU next July is scheduled to move from Conference USA to the Big East Conference.

Hart previously was with athletic departments in Oklahoma, North Carolina and East Carolina. He’s a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Hart holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education, health and sport science from UNC. He and his wife, Allison, have two children.

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