The WSU Board of Regents will hold a special meeting to consider a request from the athletics department to increase their budget by $500,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year in order to hire a men’s basketball coaching staff, according to a news release.

The regents will discuss the request at 11 a.m. Thursday during a teleconference in the French Administration Building, Room 422B.

The announcement of the meeting came after reports surfaced Tuesday evening that WSU is expected to hire University of San Francisco’s Kyle Smith as the new men’s basketball head coach. Although, no official announcement has been made by the university.

A bill passed in the Washington State Legislature last year requires the regents to approve “any expenditure over $250,000 that was not included in the approved annual budget” for the athletic department, according to regent documents.

Athletics is seeking the $500,000 for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The request was submitted by President Kirk Schulz.

This story will be updated as more information comes in.

[googlepdf url=”https://dailyevergreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Special-Board-of-Regents-Meeting-March-28-2019-Materials-for-Posting.pdf”]