Iowa athletic director Barta dismisses West Virginia rumor

Iowa athletic director Gary Barta downplayed reports Wednesday that he had been a candidate for a similar job at West Virginia.

Asked if his link to the job was just someone throwing a list of possible candidates out there, Barta said, "Yes it was."

The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette had reported that Barta was a candidate.

"I would love to finish my career at Iowa," said Barta, now in his ninth year as Iowa's top athletics official. "That would be my goal and desire. Now there's other people that control that. I control whether the coaches have jobs, I don't control whether I do."

West Virginia hired Shane Lyons, a deputy athletic director at Alabama, to replace Oliver Luck as the school's athletic director last week.