Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers, who brought Hall of Famer Bob Knight to the West Texas campus and got caught up in the contentious final year of football coach Mike Leach’s tenure, is retiring.

The school said Thursday the former Red Raiders basketball coach will step down in May.

“Together we have accomplished a lot since the Big 12 started in the fall of 1996, and it has truly been a team effort,” Myers said. “I feel like now is the time to turn this job over to someone else, and I will be supportive of that person in every way that I can.”

The 74-year-old Myers told the Associated Press he chose the timeline for his retirement and wanted to stay for another year to be with Tommy Tuberville in his first season as football coach. He also said the other consideration was the reconfigured Big 12, which will soon lose Nebraska and Colorado.

“I thought it was not a good to change ADs with all the scheduling and rebranding and revenue sharing and all the new issues that we’ll face with 10 teams,” he said.

Texas Tech won two Southwest Conference titles and went to four NCAA Tournaments in Myers’ 20 years as coach, but he put the program on the map by hiring Knight 11 years after he left the bench.