Were it not for an uncle who was a coach at St. Peter’s College, Rich Ensor may not have realized his knack for managing intercollegiate athletics. In high school, the current Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference commissioner was the manager for some of the athletics teams, and his uncle told him that if he attended St. Peter’s, he could probably make him the manager for the basketball team.

That was enough for Ensor. He parlayed that manager’s gig into a position with the school’s recreation center, and his career in intercollegiate athletics was launched. His varied background includes stints as a sports information director, a marketing and promotions assistant, a law professor and an administrator. All of which he says prepared him for running a Division I conference.

“My background helps me because I know what so many of the different positions (in the conference office) do,” he said. And he still retains a connection with the students as well, occasionally teaching a class in sports law at his alma mater, Seton Hall Law School.

All of that experience served Ensor well as he chaired the Division I Management Council’s governance subcommittee as it formulated a reorganized governance structure for the NCAA’s most high-profile division. It was important to Ensor to be part of it, he said, because he was a voice for the mid-major schools that in some cases may have felt they were being short-changed by the old system.

The 119 positions in the reorganized structure are being filled by conference offices, and Ensor feels that the changes will help schools like those he leads as commissioner of the MAAC procure a stronger voice in the future of Division I. He is proud of the role he played in the process, and said the group took its role seriously.

The key to the success of the new structure, Ensor said, is the success of its Leadership Council, which will serve as the point guard in an offense charged with feeding the Board of Directors advice on policy and procedures.

“We envisioned that the Leadership Council will be a group that the Board can rely on to brainstorm on an array of issues that may come before the Association in a more structured way and on an ongoing basis,” Ensor said. 

This service to the Association – in addition to his position on the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee – is just the latest in a career of participation in intercollegiate athletics on a national level. That has included service on the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, what was then called the Division I-AA Governance Committee and various work with athletics certification, deregulation, playing and practice seasons, and the NCAA Convention. He has also chaired the Division I-AA commissioners group and has been secretary/treasurer of the Ice Hockey Collegiate Commissioners Association. He currently is the president of the Conference Commissioners Association through June 2009.

Being a part of decisions that impact the future of the enterprise is important to Ensor both personally and professionally. He has the chance to form relationships all over the country and views it as a professional-development opportunity every time he serves another group.

But in all his work with the enterprise, Ensor said he still makes it a point to make time for his family – wife Deirdre and their four children. Balancing professional and personal pursuits became more difficult once he got married, he said, and is becoming tricky again as his children begin going off to college, but the family still finds time to be together.

Earlier this month, the Ensors were together at the MAAC men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in Albany, New York. And when the kids were younger, he’d take the family along on trips to governance meetings or championships.

“It’s hard because you want to make an appearance at the high school games in your area and you want to be at different conference events, but you also want to spend time with your kids,” he said.

Ensor, who since he became commissioner in 1988 has overseen an expansion in both member institutions and sports offerings by the MAAC, said he still has dreams for the conference’s future, including strengthening the league’s presence nationally.

 “At our core, we’re a basketball league, so I hope we continue to grow in that direction. I’d like to get multiple teams in the NCAA tournament. We’ve done that a few times, but I’d like to do it more,” he said.

Ensor will have time to do what he can to make that happen – last summer, his contract was extended through June 2010.