The NCAA search committee continues to be on track to meet its deadline of early November for naming the Association's next president.

Beyond that, however, information has been guarded -- by design.

The search committee, chaired by University of Tulsa President Bob Lawless, has not divulged who various candidates are, when the short list will be determined or even when the final selection will be announced, beyond the early November promise. What the committee does say, though, is that the field is qualified and diverse, and that whoever emerges will be the best possible individual for the job.

The NCAA Executive Committee has scheduled a meeting in October before its regular quarterly meeting November 1 and may be in position to announce the next president by then.

Though the process the search committee has used -- from hiring a search firm to divulging what public and private sectors have been contacted -- has been open, specific information about individual candidates has been closed for a reason.

Lawless said the committee has pledged confidentiality to all candidates.

"The Baker-Parker search firm has identified some truly outstanding candidates who are all currently employed and do not wish to put their current employment in jeopardy while considering this NCAA opportunity," Lawless said. "We're maintaining confidentiality so that we can have the strongest possible candidate pool."

Lawless said that if potential finalists were to be leaked, some might feel they would have no choice but to withdraw from consideration in order to protect their present situation. Because of that, Lawless said, an announcement of finalists -- before the president is named or after -- is unlikely.

Lawless maintains, however, that even though the committee will not discuss specific candidates publicly, the field represents the diversity the committee wanted.

"We gave that charge to the search firm and they have complied in outstanding fashion," Lawless said. "That diversity extends not only to gender and ethnicity, but background."