SIU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia is headed back to his alma mater.
New Mexico State University named Moccia as its new Athletics Director Monday. During a news conference announcing the hiring on the Las Cruces campus, Moccia said he knows fundraising will be a big part of his job with the Aggies. He says his experience raising 12 million dollars in private funds at SIU will help him in this new job.
New Mexico State President Garrey Carruthers says Moccia was the clearly the best choice among the 48 applicants for the job. Moccia graduated from New Mexico State in 1989. He was captain of the Aggie baseball team and was inducted into the Aggie Hall of Fame in 1998.
Moccia will take over New Mexico State's Athletics Department, on January 5th. Moccia has been at SIU since 2006. His signature achievement was Saluki Way - an $80 million facilities campaign that featured a new football stadium, renovated arena and 50,000-square foot team facility. The new facilities opened in 2010.
