After just two years as the Washington University athletic director, Josh Whitman might be leaving. Whitman is currently one of three top candidates in the running for the vacant athletic director position at Division I University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.

An announcement from Illinois is expected in the coming weeks. Until then, the future of Wash. U. athletics remains in flux. When 36-year athletic director John Schael retired on June 30, 2014, Whitman stepped in on Aug. 1.

It is unclear at this time whether or not the University’s athletic department has been vetting replacements during this process, if they have a candidate ready to step in in the event that Whitman leaves or who would temporarily take over in the interim.

The field of Illinois candidates had recently narrowed after Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, Colorado University athletic director Rick George, University of Maryland deputy athletic director Kelly Mehrtens and University of Central Michigan athletic director Dave Heeke all dropped out following a revision of the job description.

Now Whitman, alongside Florida Atlantic University athletic director Patrick Chun, Eastern Illinois University’s Tom Michael and Northern Illinois University’s Sean Fraizer, appears to be a front-runner for the position.

The Illinois search committee headed by interim Chancellor Barbara Wilson originally planned a hiring announcement for the Jan. 21 Board of Trustees’ meeting, but that date has now been pushed back to late February. The highly publicized search was criticized in mid-December for using informal methods for contacting candidates such as emailing sitting athletic directors through their university email. It is not clear whether Whitman was approached in that matter.

The search began over three months ago when fifth-year Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas’ contract was terminated in the wake of a scandal involving the abuse of student-athletes by the Illinois football and women’s basketball coaches. Thomas had hired both coaches.

Many of the candidates being vetted, including Whitman, have Illinois ties. Whitman played tight end for the Fighting Illini for four years and graduated with a degree with highest honors in finance in 2001.

After bouncing around the NFL for several years, Whitman returned to Illinois, where he was the coordinator of special projects from 2005-2007 before being promoted to assistant to the athletic director, as which he served from 2007-2008. During his second stint at Illinois, he also earned his law degree summa cum laude at the Illinois College of Law.

Since coming to Wash. U., Whitman has hired 15 new staff members, among them two new head coaches, three high-level administrators and the program’s first strength and conditioning coach. Whitman has also supervised the construction and final stages of the Gary M. Summers Recreation Center, a $55 million endeavor. One of Whitman’s hallmarks has been his aggressive fundraising, approaching the department’s $1 million annual goal and $30 million capital campaign.

Whitman first made the transition to Division III as the athletic director of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. During his four years at the helm, Whitman increased the operations budget by 50 percent. Part of that was a corporate sponsorship program that hauled in over $200,000 annually in cash and in-kind support. Whitman then accepted the athletic director position.

In a February 2015 interview with Bear Sports, the Wash. U. Athletic Department website, Whitman stated, “There were things about Division III athletics, when compared with Division I, that I would have a hard time leaving: interactions with the student-athletes, the day-to-day workings with coaches, the quality-of-life elements.”

Josh Whitman and sports information director Christopher Mitchell were unavailable for comment at the time of publication.