The University of Missouri paid national search firm College Sports Associates a base fee of $75,000 to assist with the hiring process of new athletics director Jim Sterk, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Missouri will also reimburse CSA for any expenses that were spent during the search including travel, lodging, meals, materials, printing and other out-of-pocket business fees.

Sterk agreed to a seven-year deal worth a guaranteed salary of $700,000 last week. He served as San Diego State University’s AD for the past six years prior and will join Mizzou on Aug. 22.

Sterk replaced former AD Mack Rhoades, who left after two seasons to accept the AD position at Baylor this offseason. Mizzou interim chancellor Hank Foley sought out CSA, which is run by Todd Turner, who served as an athletics director at several D1 schools, including the University of Washington. During Turner’s tenure at UW, Sterk served as the AD at rival Washington State University.

Missouri agreed to pay CSA an initial fee of $38,000 upon its agreement on Aug. 1, including a one-time $500 office support fee. The university was scheduled to pay the remaining $37,500 once it had found its athletic director, which occurred last Monday. CSA will send Mizzou the bill for its expenses and fees at the end of each month.

Since Mizzou hired its athletic director so quickly, it likely saved in expenses. The contract estimates that Missouri would have paid $20,000 to $25,000 in expenses for off-site interviews of six to eight candidates. Travel and other expenses for Turner, who served as the search consultant, is expected to range between $2,500 and $5,000, according to the contract.

You can read more about Mizzou’s AD search expenses at STLToday.com here.