Utah State University’s new athletics director, Diana Sabau. Photo courtesy of Utah State University.
LOGAN — Utah State has announced it is is hiring Big Ten deputy commissioner Diana Sabau as the university’s athletic director.
“I’m thrilled Diana will join the Aggie family at the helm of USU Athletics. She is perfect for this moment and for elevating Aggie Athletics to the next level,” Utah State University President Elizabeth Cantwell said in a statement.
Sabau will take over for Jerry Bovee, who has served as interim AD for the Aggies since the November departure of John Hartwell who had spent seven years as the full-time AD.
“I am humbled by this tremendous opportunity to lead Utah State Athletics and I am so grateful to President Cantwell for her belief and confidence in me as well as to the members of the search committee,” Sabau said in a statement. “I am energized to serve our Aggie student-athletes, coaches, staff, university, alumni, donors and the Logan community. We will compete for championships with integrity and we will build on the current momentum of Utah State Athletics.”
In her time as a sports administrator, Sabau has taken on numerous leadership positions with both the Big Ten, Ohio State University and local organizations. She took on her role as Big Ten deputy commissioner and chief sports officer in 2021. The role of chief sports officer was created and given to Sabau as part of her hiring. Prior to that job, Sabau spent four years at Ohio State University in the role of senior deputy athletic director.
As the senior deputy AD at Ohio State, Sabau played a key role in a multi-million dollar partnerships with Nike along with extending a multi-million dollar deal with Levy Restaurants. She also served as a television liaison for the department, working with ESPN to bring “College GameDay” onto the OSU campus.
Another successful venture for Sabau was revitalizing the women’s ice hockey program at Ohio State. She conducted the search for the program’s current head coach, Nadine Muzerall, who has twice earned coach of the year accolades and led the team to four “Frozen Four” appearances with back-to-back title game appearances in 2022 and 2023 (winning the championship in 2022).
Sabau was also part of the Columbus Local Organizing Committee that planned and hosted the 2018 women’s basketball Final Four in Columbus.
