Penn State has zeroed in on a target for its next athletics director given Sandy Barbour’s upcoming retirement.

Matt Fortuna of The Athletic reported that Patrick Kraft is who the Nittany Lions have in mind as their next AD. Kraft, a former Indiana walk-on linebacker who later earned a scholarship, is the current AD at Boston College, and was AD at Temple before that. This shapes up to be the latest leadership hire by Penn State as the school has a new president, Neeli Bendapudi, formerly of Louisville, slated to begin May 10.

Kraft joined BC on July 1, 2020 after Temple hired him as was one of the youngest ADs in the country at the age of 37 to run its athletics department in May of 2015. He had served as deputy AD with the Owls before that, overseeing the football program during its rise under former coach Matt Rhule.

At Temple, Kraft set records for the annual fund for 5 straight years, while consistently enhancing revenues from ticket sales.

Some of Kraft’s key moves at BC have been hiring men’s basketball coach Earl Grant, and the securing of a $15 million gift to help build a men’s and women’s basketball practice facility. At both Temple and BC, Kraft negotiated on behalf of his schools to get out of their apparel deals with Under Armour, signing with Nike and New Balance, respectively.

Kraft is from Libertyville, Illinois, Kraft and earned 3 degrees from IU, including a doctorate in sport management, a master’s degree in sport marketing administration, and a bachelor’s degree in sport marketing management.