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Gov. Baker will become NCAA president

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Gov. Charlie Baker with a UMass Lowell hockey jersey in 2015. (John Blanding/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Gov. Charlie Baker with a UMass Lowell hockey jersey in 2015. (John Blanding/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Editor's Note: The audio atop this post aired during WBUR's All Things Considered, with host Lynn Jolicoeur and reporter Steve Brown.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker will be the next president of the NCAA, the association announced Thursday, replacing Mark Emmert as the head of the largest college sports governing body in the country.

Baker, a Republican, has been governor of Massachusetts since 2015. He announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election. He will start the job in March 2023.

“The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but 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. “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.”

Emmert announced he would step down earlier this year after 12 years of leading the NCAA through a tumultuous time.

Battered by losses in court and attacks by politicians, the NCAA is going through a sweeping reform, trying to decentralize the way college sports is run.

College sports leaders, including Emmert, have repeatedly asked for help from Congress to regulate name, image and likeness compensation since the NCAA lifted its ban in 2021 on athletes being paid by endorsers.

Now the association will be led by a politician for the first time.

U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan applauded Baker's appointment to the role.

“The NCAA is at an inflection point where athletes and the millions of fans who root them on have largely lost faith in it as an organization," the congresswoman from Massachusetts said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Governor Baker to help chart a path forward where the NCAA and college athletics as a whole work for the people who matter most — athletes.”

Baker's gubernatorial successor and current attorney general, Maura Healey, shared congratulations on his new position.

"I know he knows the important role athletics can play and I’m excited for the future of college sports and student-athletes under his leadership."

Baker was born in upstate New York, went to high school in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard, where he played on the junior varsity basketball team. That's the extent of his personal experience in college sports.

The last two NCAA presidents, Emmert and the late Myles Brand, moved into the job after being university presidents.

Before that, the job had typically been held by former college sports administrators.

But with the NCAA moving into a new phase and college sports becoming more professionalized, it was clear the role of the president of the association was also changing.

“Governor Baker has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways," said Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor and chairwoman of the NCAA Board of Governors. "These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.”

Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of sports economics at Smith College, said Baker's new job could be even harder than his job as governor.

"The NCAA job that he's taking is unbelievably challenging," Zimbalist said. "The NCAA is falling apart."

He said the organization sorely needs someone with Baker's political skills to help work with Congress on thorny issues, like trying to get an exemption from anti-trust lawsuits.

The job will likely come with a big raise for Baker, who earns $185,000 a year as governor. The current NCAA president, Emmert, earned $2.9 million in total compensation in 2019, including a base salary of $2.5 million.

This story was written by Ralph D. Russo, The Associated Press, with additional reporting from the WBUR newsroom.

This segment aired on December 15, 2022.

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