A Dallas Morning News story reporting that SMU had centered its search for a new athletic director on four candidates has sparked a busy 24 hours in the AD search.

Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson said in a statement Tuesday that he was removing his name from consideration for the SMU job. Wyoming AD Gary Barta also released a statement saying he had no interest in the job.

According to Monday’s DMN story, Tulane officials, including Tulane President Scott Cowen, were aware Dickson had spoken to SMU.

Barta, on the other hand, claimed in his statement he had not been contacted by anyone at SMU and had no interest in the job.

Remaining from the list of four candidates named in Monday’s report, which cited unnamed sources at SMU, are sitting athletic directors Rich Hartzell of Northern Iowa and Chet Gladchuck of Navy.

Both men have some interesting qualifications.

Hartzell hired UNI basketball coach Greg McDermott, who amassed a 90-63 record and three NCAA tournament appearances in just five years. McDermott joined Iowa State as its new head coach Tuesday.

Previously, as athletic director at Bucknell, Hartzell hired current men’s basketball coach Pat Flannery, who has led the Bison to two straight NCAA tournament second round appearances.

UNI has announced a press conference for Wednesday, but The Des Moines Register reports it is expected to focus on the promotion of assistant coach Ben Jacobson to take over the UNI men’s team. Its story mentions nothing about the SMU AD job.

Earlier this month, Navy’s Gladchuck was named 2006 Athletic Director of the Year by the Division 1A Athletic Directors Association. He hired football coach Paul Johnson, who has led the Midshipmen to three consecutive winning seasons and bowl games, culminating in a 51-30 win over Colorado State in the MPC Computers Bowl this postseason.