Vince Baldemor is stepping down as athletic director at Hawaii Pacific University, sources told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser today.

Baldemor, a former athletics administrator at the University of Hawaii, was hired to lead Division II HPU’s 14 athletics programs in January 2014. He oversaw the branding and nickname transition from “Sea Warriors” to “Sharks” shortly thereafter. Baldemor’s contract runs through July 2, and he has decided to step aside. No reason was given, and he was not immediately available to comment today.

Sam Moku, HPU’s vice president of university relations, is expected to be tapped as interim AD, one of the sources said. An internal email was sent out notifying staff late this afternoon, and an official announcement could be made as soon as Wednesday.

In the HPU website’s profile on Baldemor, the academic progress of some 250 student-athletes is touted, with the department’s combined grade-point average rising from 2.98 to 3.16 during his tenure. Athletic highlights of his tenure included HPU men’s tennis winning the 2016 NCAA II national championship, and men’s (2017) and women’s (2015, 2018) basketball winning Pacific West Conference championships.

The former DePaul tennis player took over as HPU AD from Darren Vorderbruegge, who relinquished the job to focus on coaching the Sharks men’s basketball team.