Vince Baldemor is out and Sam Moku is in as athletic director of Hawaii Pacific University.

An HPU spokesperson confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Baldemor, who was hired in January 2014, is leaving his post at the conclusion of his contract July 2. Moku, HPU’s vice president of university relations and a former defensive back for the University of Hawaii football team, will take over the Division II Sharks’ 14 athletics programs on an acting basis on July 3, according to a press release prepared by HPU.

Baldemor was previously an athletics administrator at the University of Hawaii — most notably the executive director of the Ahahui Koa Anuenue fundraising arm. At HPU, he oversaw the branding and nickname transition from “Sea Warriors” to “Sharks” shortly after his hire.

An internal memo was sent out notifying staff late Tuesday afternoon, and an official announcement is expected today.

“We are deeply grateful to Vince for his service to HPU,” said president John Y. Gotanda, who joined the university in July 2016. “We look forward to the leadership and continued success that Sam will bring to our Sharks athletic program.”

Baldemor said in the release: “I want to thank President Gotanda for allowing me to serve HPU and work with our amazing coaches, staff and student-athletes. We were able to accomplish great things during my tenure and I’ll always appreciate that we did it as a family. More success lies ahead for the department under acting AD Sam Moku and I look forward to cheering on our teams as they continue to represent HPU locally and nationally. Go Sharks!”

Moku is a former 14-year track and field coach at Kamehameha and has been with HPU since 2013. In addition to his new AD job, he will continue his government relations duties.

“Sports, education and community are three of the biggest influences in my life,” Moku said. “I’m excited to serve all these priorities in my new role and particularly to develop our recruitment strategy for local athletes.”

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 included HPU men’s tennis winning the 2016 NCAA II national championship, and men’s (2017) and women’s (2015) 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.