Longtime Division II AD McDermott named SSU interim AD
ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Joan McDermott, a nationally lauded longtime NCAA Division II athletic director with additional leadership experience at the University of San Francisco, was named SSU interim director of athletics effective April 15.
McDermott, who rose to national prominence while shaping Metropolitan State University – Denver into a Division II sports powerhouse as its athletics director, takes SSU’s athletics helm as the university explores how NCAA Division II sports might be sustainably restored. SSU athletics ceased operations in June 2025 following campus-wide budget cuts announced in January of that year.
“I believe athletics is vital to SSU because, when managed effectively, it strengthens the campus community and supports the university's mission by driving enrollment and fostering student growth,” McDermott said.
Soon after taking office in January, SSU President Michael Spagna created a Fiscal Feasibility Team to review the recommendations of an athletics task force that offered a proposal to restore some Division II sports. Identifying a funding mechanism for sports was not part of the original task force’s scope.
“I am eager to contribute to the university's athletic efforts. My immediate focus will be working closely with the athletics Fiscal Feasibility Team,” McDermott said.
As USF athletics director from 2016 to 2022, McDermott led an overhaul that balanced the department’s budget for the first time while producing four teams that reached their first NCAA regional appearances. During her tenure, men’s basketball also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 years.
“Sonoma State is extremely fortunate to have an expert of Joan’s caliber on board as we explore what’s possible for athletics,” Spagna said. “As I have mentioned previously, athletics are an important part of the university experience, for students and prospective students, the campus community, and the greater community that supports Sonoma State. They serve as a ‘front porch’ where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can gather and unite behind a common cause: rooting for the home team. This is a belief that Joan strongly shares.”
McDermott, who retired from NCAA Division I USF in 2022, previously earned national attention for her accomplishments as director of athletics at Metropolitan State University of Denver from 1998 to 2015.
During her tenure at MSU, she led the university's management, administration, and supervisory functions of NCAA Division II athletics, including fundraising, personnel, promotions, marketing, facility management, and NCAA compliance, as well as the budget for 16 sports, 240 student-athletes, and 36 employees. She was twice named NCAA Division II Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
McDermott led the transformation of MSU Denver athletics into a nationally recognized NCAA program that:
- Won four NCAA II National Championships – Men’s Basketball (2000, 2002), Women’s Soccer (2004,2006)
- Had the winningest men’s basketball program in NCAA Division II history
- Produced two NCAA Division II Individual National Champions (Men’s Track); three Division II II National Players of the Year; two Division II National Academic Players of the Year; 57 NCAA postseason appearances in 14 different sports; and reached the NCAA Division II Softball World Series in 2010 in just the third year of the program
- Produced 71 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) team championships, 137 All-Americans, and 11 Academic All-Americans
- Established programs in Men’s and Women’s Cross Country (2007), Women’s Softball (2008), Men’s and Women’s Track (2009), and Women’s Golf (2010)
- Increased graduation rates to over twice that of the general student body
- Increased the Academic Success Rate from 39% (2001 cohort) to 64% (2008 cohort)
McDermott also coordinated the planning, implementation, and oversight of a new outdoor athletic complex for tennis, soccer, baseball, and softball. She cultivated relationships with and secured financial support from alumni, leading civic and business individuals, organizations, foundations, and corporations, increasing fundraising thirtyfold, including $1.5 million for the athletic complex.
A four-time letter winner on the USF women’s volleyball team, McDermott earned her B.A. in sociology/physical education at that university, and later earned a master of arts degree in educational administration from Stanford.
McDermott began her career in athletics management as a coach. She served as Metropolitan State College of Denver head volleyball coach in 1988-89 and 1996-98; at Morningside College from 1990 to 1995, and at Saint Mary's College of California from 1982 to 1987.
She has served on the NCAA Athletic Director Executive Committee; the NCAA Gender Equity Committee; the NCAA Return on Inclusion Diversity Training, and as chair of the NCAA National Beach Volleyball Committee. She also has served on dozens of boards, commissions and committees in service of NCAA Division II athletics.