Malcolm Turner resigns as Vanderbilt AD after 1 year on job

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Malcolm Turner has resigned as Vanderbilt athletic director after one year on the job, and Candice Storey Lee has been named interim athletic director effectively immediately.

Vanderbilt announced Tuesday the school had accepted Turner’s resignation was accepted. Turner was president of the NBA G League when hired in December 2018 by Vanderbilt to replace David Williams. He started Feb. 1, 2019.

Turner fired Bryce Drew as men’s basketball coach last spring and hired Jerry Stackhouse. He also oversaw some immediate improvements to athletics facilities announced last May. He had been working on a plan to update Vanderbilt’s athletic facilities, including the football stadium whose last major renovation was in 1981, which is expected to be announced soon.

“At the onset of this next critical phase of key athletics initiatives and after considering certain family commitments important to me, I have elected to pursue new opportunities,” Turner said in a statement.

Lee played basketball at Vanderbilt and has three different degrees from the university. She now is the first female athletic director in any capacity at Vanderbilt and the first black woman AD in the Southeastern Conference.

“Candice embodies the Vanderbilt Way, which is our commitment to ensuring that student-athletes excel on the field of play, academically and in life,” interim chancellor and provost Susan R. Wente said in a statement. “Candice is a trailblazer. Her unparalleled work ethic, energy and vision, and steadfast commitment to the Commodore family, will only build on our momentum.”

Wente did not say how long Lee would work as the interim athletic director.

Lee was a captain of the women’s basketball team before graduating in 2000. She earned a master’s degree in counseling from Vanderbilt in 2002 and got her doctorate in higher education administration in 2012.

Lee was Vanderbilt’s senior woman administrator since 2004. She oversees the daily operations of the athletics department and has been the administrator for football and women’s basketball programs. she is a former member of the NCAA women’s basketball rules committee, a former chair of the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse committee and a former chair of the SEC senior woman administrators.