Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has been announced as the brand new NCAA president following his departure from office in January.
Baker, 66, shall be succeeding Mark Emmert on March 1, 2023, after holding the Governor’s seat of Massachusetts since 2015.
The soon-to-be former Governor isn’t any stranger to collegiate sports. From 1977-78, Baker played power forward for Harvard’s basketball team.
For many of his profession, Baker has held various roles in Massachusetts state government and has never held a position in any college-level administrative capability. His only administrative position outside of presidency was the last decade he spent in health care.
Baker, who holds degrees from each Harvard and Northwestern, says it’s “value doing.”
“It’s big and complex, but so have been a variety of the things I’ve done in my life. More often than not, they were absolutely value doing,” Baker said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Baker believes he’s joining the NCAA at a “pivotal” time, because the organization is transforming the way in which it runs college sports due to legal and political challenges to its business model.
Emmert, who has been the top of the NCAA since Nov. 2010, announced he could be stepping down as president this past April.
In April of 2021, Emmert signed a contract extension through 2025 but will now remain in an advisory role with the NCAA until June to assist with the transition of power between himself and Baker.
Chair of the NCAA’s board of governors and Baylor University president Linda Livingstone was a key player within the seek for the brand new president. As a candidate, Baker stood out from the remainder due to his track record of constructing bipartisan relationships as governor. She hopes that Baker will have the opportunity to assist Congress create federal laws that may give the NCAA legal clearance to control how college athletes are compensated.
“As a former student-athlete himself, husband to a former college gymnast, and father to 2 former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to our student-athletes and enhancing their collegiate experience,” Livingstone said in an announcement.
Following his departure as Governor, Baker plans to attend this 12 months’s NVAA convention in mid-January in hopes he can begin developing the bottom work for the organization he shall be head of in March.
Baker, who told reporters on Thursday that he’s not able to reveal any details about specific issues, comparable to athletes transferring between schools and the way NCAA athletes are allowed to become profitable, is thrilled to be a part of the organization.
He believes the NCAA is “certainly one of the truly best human potential development organizations ever devised.”