Q&A with the NCAA president

Ask Bob about his visit here

Across from Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis, Jim Isch stands as the temporary caretaker of the NCAA office. He became interim president in September, replacing the late Myles Brand. The former NCAA chief financial officer fills his days with trips to college campuses and meetings with the membership. He's got a good sense of humor, joking that he was 15th in a high school class of 13 in tiny Morrill, Kan. During a busy day at the low-key building (no neon lights welcoming you to the NCAA headquarters), the 59-year-old Kansas State alum gave The News-Gazette an hour of his time to talk about the men's basketball tournament, troubles in sports, Brand's legacy and conference expansion. Did we mention the NCAA tournament? Here are his thoughts:

Let's start with an easy one: Is the NCAA tournament going to 96 teams?

I don't know. It will be a decision that will be made after consultation with the membership and our Division I board of directors.

What are your thoughts on the expansion of the men's basketball tournament?

I personally like it. I love basketball, and I love the tournament. To have a few more games is great because I love basketball.

Are you surprised by the reaction to it?

Absolutely not. This is a question that needs to be debated and the membership needs to react. We'll have more conversations. We've had several. I would certainly want to make clear that it isn't a done deal that it's going to 96.

The obvious argument against: why mess with success?

I think that's the time that is always the best to change, when things are going good. Can you tweak it and even make it better? I don't think we ever want to become complacent with respect to the tournament. We need to constantly evaluate and review the tournament and make certain it remains one of the premier sporting events in the country.

Any thought to letting everybody in?

We've got 330 Division I institutions. We're not going to have a tournament of 330. It would be very tough. That's not going to happen.

You've got the Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium, then Reliant Stadium, then Cowboys Stadium. Think we will ever see the Final Four at an arena?

I hope not. The reason I say I hope not is because of the demand for viewership. People want to attend the game, they want to have the experience. One of the things we've done last year and will continue to do is bring more students into the event. In the past, where we've had the stands filled with people who were willing to pay for the ticket price, we now have students located down on the floor. That begins to differentiate the collegiate model from the pro model.

Is there such a thing as too many tickets?

We'll see. Certainly, the people of Dallas think there will be a demand for all of the tickets. There won't be a problem moving the tickets. Great. The more who can experience the game, the better.

Who's going to be the 12th team in the Big Ten?

I don't think it's going to be Kansas State, but I don't know, though.

What is the NCAA's role in conference expansion?

We will have no role in the expansion. That will be up to the conferences and our member schools.

What worries you about conference expansion?

There really isn't anything. It's the decision of the conference members to determine who should be in the conference. We're fine with that.

If we put the NCAA in charge of the Football Bowl Subdivision, would there be a playoff?

That's a very, very good question. At this point, I would say no. And the reason I would say no is that our membership doesn't want it. The NCAA isn't the national office here in Indianapolis. The NCAA is our members. Our members determine our policies and practices. Right now, they've said no, they don't want a playoff.

Could you see the membership coming to the NCAA and asking to have it take over the Football Bowl Subdivision?

I think anything's possible. I just don't see it any time in the immediate future.

The Big Ten has its own network. How about an NCAA Network?

We've discussed it. We've explored that option and determined it wasn't feasible for our particular situation. What we have to offer our fans are championships. And there just isn't enough content there to justify a channel. People like to consume sports on a real-time basis. If it's not live, it isn't as compelling.

The Black Coaches Association has been critical in the past of college football hirings. How is that going now?

We've been attempting to use the bully pulpit, Myles (Brand) has for years, trying to press for the inclusion of minorities at least through the interview process. I think we've begun to see the fruits of the efforts this year. What we have to do is make certain that we continue to push.

Has the NCAA softened on cheaters?

I guess you'd have to ask the institutions that are being impacted. Obviously, there are many that say no. There may be others that would suggest that's occurred. For those who say that has occurred, identify infractions and we'll go out and investigate. We're going to hold those institutions accountable.

Do you see a day when college athletes are paid?

I don't see that as long as we have the student-athlete and the collegiate model. One of the things that's oftentimes missed is that many of these student-athletes have a scholarship, get their tuition, room and board paid for. For some of us who didn't have that opportunity, it's quite an advantage. We'll continue to support student-athletes.

How has the economy hurt the NCAA?

We've been very, very fortunate because we've had long-term contracts with our broadcast partners. Those have been in place since the early 2000s. Yes, we've seen some decline in our ticket sales in some of the smaller events. But we really haven't seen the impact that our member institutions have had. Some of the things we've done is we've tried to distribute more money to our members. Over 60 percent of all of our revenues go back in the form of direct distributions to Division I members. Over 95 percent of our overall dollars go back to support student-athletes and our member institutions.

John Calipari's programs at UMass and Memphis had problems with NCAA rules. Then, Kentucky hires him for $31 million. Do you think that's wrong?

I can't comment on the University of Kentucky's hiring practices. That's up to them. I don't know the particulars of that situation.

You've been on the job five months. Your assessment?

Oh, gosh, it seems like 10 years. It's been fun. It's been hectic. It's been challenging. It's forced me to stretch in areas that I hadn't had to in my previous job. When you're a CFO, you have a much different perspective. Mine was more internally focused than it was externally. This is stretching me, which is great. I've enjoyed it.

You've had to expand your public profile. How important is that?

It's not that it isn't important, but I have a limited time in this role. My focus has been to prepare for the next permanent president. And that's what I'm doing. Obviously, there are times when I'm going to have a public presence. And I'm going to step out and I'm going to say things and I'm going to make comments. I'm much more focused on leaving things in good shape.

Could that next president be you?

Absolutely not. That's an easy one. No way. When the executive committee offered me the position as interim president it was with the understanding that I would not be a candidate. Since I didn't think I was a candidate for the interim president, it was easy to say I wouldn't be a candidate for the permanent president. I will not be a candidate per agreement.

Describe the process to hire the next president.

The executive committee, which is a group of 16 presidents, appointed a subcommittee to act as a search committee to begin the process of identifying the next president. That started back in October. They engaged a search firm by the name of Parker Executive Search. They are well on their way to identifying candidates. It's the hope to have the next NCAA president on board by the start of the fall academic term. The timing is consistent with what typically you would find on a college campus.

Myles Brand left huge shoes to fill, right?

I really have difficulty describing the impact he had on our organization because it was so far beyond, in my opinion, the way any of the others had been able to impact this organization. Myles was an academician. Myles' first focus was student-athletes. He really took the academic segment of the student-athlete and pushed it beyond anything we could have imagined. He was focused on the student-athletes, always the student-athletes. He wanted these young people to graduate because as our ad says, "over 400,000 will go pro in something other than sports." Great man. Great leader. Great visionary. And one of the smartest people you'll ever meet.

Has the NCAA become more user friendly?

I think that's absolutely right. I think you've seen us being much more flexible. Certainly more student-athlete focused. Myles is responsible for that. That's a tone that has to be set at the top, and he did that.

What's the best thing about the NCAA?

The passion that our employees have for the student-athlete. If you ask anyone why they're here, they are here because of their love of sports, but also their commitment and passion to the student-athlete. We have outstanding people. We're one of the few sports organizations that is national in scope.

Are you concerned about the direction of basketball recruiting, with players making commitments before they can drive?

We currently have an initiative with trying to clean up some of the issues that revolve around basketball recruiting. This is something that we've got to keep our eye on the ball. We've got to keep up with the technology. We've got to keep up with the changing patterns, and that's difficult where change occurs at lightning speeds. We're concerned about the young people.

Anything else you would like to share?

If there was one message I could get across to fans across the U.S., the NCAA is not about the national office, about its location in Indianapolis. It's about our member institutions. We're totally driven by our membership. All of our enforcement. All of our bylaws. Everything we do, there is a committee of our membership that makes that determination. They're from all over the place. I think that's often misunderstood.

Comments

Add a Comment