NCAA president Charlie Baker issued a statement to Sports Illustrated on Monday emphasizing his concerns with the recent realignment moves within college athletics, asking for major-college leaders to work together in areas that "impact student-athlete well-being and competitive equity issues."
“I share concerns about the impact that the recent spate of conference realignment activities will have on student-athletes’ well-being," Baker said in the statement. "The recent conference moves highlight what I found during my review of the issues facing the NCAA – the growing gap between well-resourced Division I schools and the rest of the division is highly disruptive for all of DI and college sports overall. I believe DI university and college presidents, commissioners and the NCAA should work together to explore ways to address the impact this growing gap is having on student-athlete well-being and the competitive equity issues across the division.”
Last week, the Pac-12 was stripped of five members: Oregon and Washington left for the Big Ten Conference while Arizona, Arizona State and Utah departed for the Big 12. Those three followed the departure in late July of Colorado for that league. The resulting chaos from these new, long-distance partnerships has left the 108-year-old Pac-12 with just four members. Two of those, California and Stanford, are being vetted by the Atlantic Coast Conference for potential future membership.
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It's unusual, if not unprecedented, for an active NCAA president to comment critically on realignment moves within the association's membership. Baker and the NCAA have no official role in conference membership, so his ability to impact what's happening in that realm is limited. But his concerns echo much of what has been said in the aftermath of the raiding of the Pac-12, which aroused a coast-to-coast outcry. These are massive decisions that will affect member schools and their athletes for years to come, with seemingly little regard for anything other than increased profit.
Last week, Baker's release of findings following an internal review of NCAA business procedures was largely lost in the clamor over realignment. In that review, Baker called for the NCAA to be more nimble and responsive to new challenges that have arisen in a number of areas.
"College sports remains in a period of dramatic transformation, and the NCAA must evolve in response to and anticipation of these changes," Baker said in a statement last week. "We can no longer pretend things are as they always have been — and our new way of doing business will ready the national office to move forward with urgency, purpose and a plan. I believe the results of this review provide a compelling and detailed vision that every NCAA action should anchor to."
