Every once in a while the last few months, during a random conversation about something entirely unrelated, I’d be reminded that the NCAA still needed a president. Truly felt like a light-bulb moment. “Oh, right, that job is still open, isn’t it?” Which can be interpreted in plenty of ways. That no one missed Mark Emmert, most obviously. But also how feckless the entire concept of NCAA president had become.
It wasn’t entirely fantastic to imagine the NCAA downsizing, with SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s transformation committee reimagining an NCAA without a president.
Instead, the NCAA has named Emmert’s replacement — Charlie Baker, the outgoing Republican governor of Massachusetts. This is the NCAA’s idea of out-of-the-box thinking. As transformations go, opting for a politician over a university president is like splitting the last hair on a bald man’s scalp.
Aside from his white-collar job title, Baker otherwise looks exactly like the other men — and save for two years when Judith Sweet stood at the helm, it’s always men — who’ve held the position. He hits all of the W columns, and no, that’s not wins. He’s White, well-educated and wealthy, thanks to his job running a healthcare company. (He’s also about to get wealthier. His government job…
