Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker to become next NCAA president
Charlie Baker, the governor of Massachusetts, will be the next president of the NCAA, the organization announced in a release Thursday. He will begin in March, succeeding Mark Emmert, who has held the position since 2010. Baker's two-term stint as governor ends in January.
Before running for governor, Baker, a Republican, was executive in residence of General Catalyst Partners and CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare and a variety of jobs in Massachusetts government. In college, he played basketball at Harvard.
"We know that to be successful, the NCAA president needs to possess the ability to balance competing priorities, inspire a shared vision, and create a broad sense of trust," Grant Hill, a former Duke basketball player and member of the search committee said in the release. "As Governor of Massachusetts and a successful private sector CEO, Charlie Baker has demonstrated the type of results-oriented, bipartisan approach that we will need to bolster the well-being of student-athletes, realize the opportunities and overcome the challenges facing the NCAA."
Emmert will stay with the NCAA as a consultant through June 2023.
Baker joins the NCAA at an unusual time. The college sports landscape has been fundamentally changed in recent years with athletes now allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness and upcoming realignment.
"I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge," Baker said in the release. "And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come. Over the coming months, I will begin working with student-athletes and NCAA members as we modernize college sports to suit today's world, while preserving its essential value."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: NCAA: Charlie Baker to become next NCAA president
