Apr 27, 2010 5:54:44 PM

Walter Byers

1951-87

Issues/accomplishments

• NCAA Football Television Plan is created.
• National rules enforcement program is developed.
• Member institutions, conferences required to participate in NCAA championships if invited.
• Five-year rule established.
• Academic initial-eligibility rules enhanced, starting with creation of 1.6 rule.
• Freshmen permitted to compete.
• Membership classifications of Divisions I, II and III (and eventually Divisions I-A, I-AA and I-AAA) are created.
• Dispute with the U.S. Olympic Committee arises over regulation of amateur sports; USOC membership terminated in October 1972, re-established in April 1978.
• National office moved from downtown Kansas City, Missouri, to Mission, Kansas.
• NCAA challenges how Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is to be interpreted.
• Agreement with ESPN reached to televise series of NCAA championships.
• Governance plan approved that allocates NCAA Council positions to women and creates the sports committees necessary to conduct women's championships. First women's championships approved.
• Proposition 48 approved at 1983 Convention; strengthens previous initial-eligibility standards.
• Involvement of chief executive officers increased; NCAA Presidents Commission established in 1984.
• Federal court rules NCAA Football Television Plan violates Sherman Antitrust Act; decision upheld by U.S. Supreme Court in 1984, leading to deregulation of college football television.
• Catastrophic-injury insurance provided for all member institutions.
• NCAA drug-testing program established in 1986.
• Congress investigates NCAA enforcement program; fails to establish wrongdoing, but the probe leads to changes in NCAA enforcement practices.
• "Death penalty" imposed on Southern Methodist University football in 1987, the only time an institution has been required to shut down operations for rules violations.
• Byers retires in 1987; University of Virginia Athletics Director Richard D. Schultz is named as his replacement.

Richard D. Schultz

1987-93

Issues/accomplishments

• States that a major priority of his administration will be to improve the public's perception of intercollegiate athletics.
• Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics is established in 1989; report issued in 1991 states that greater chief executive officer involvement in intercollegiate athletics is essential.
• NCAA signs $1 billion television contract with CBS in 1991; NCAA revenue-distribution plan is subsequently established to distribute the revenue as equitably as possible.
• Presidential leadership gains strength as "reform agenda" prevails in late 1980s, early 1990s.
• National office moved from Mission, Kansas, to Overland Park, Kansas.
• Congress approves the Student-Right-to-Know Act, which leads to the annual NCAA graduation-rate reports. The first graduation-rate study in 1992 shows that student-athletes graduate at about the same rate as other students but that black student-athletes graduate at lower levels, especially in revenue-producing sports.
• "Restricted-earnings" coaching position approved at 1991 Convention.
• Proposition 16 approved at 1992 Convention; further strengthens initial-eligibility standards.
• NCAA defeats state "due-process laws" that are designed to undermine the NCAA enforcement program.
• Five conferences and the University of Notre Dame reach agreement in 1992 with postseason bowl games to make a national championship football game more likely.
• First NCAA gender-equity study in 1992 shows significant differences in the treatment of male and female student-athletes.
• Division I athletics certification program and NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse established in 1993.
• Schultz resigns as executive director in 1993 after an independent fact-finder concludes he knew of improper loans provided to a student-athlete while he was athletics director at the University of Virginia. University of Arizona Athletics Director Cedric W. Dempsey is named as his replacement.

Cedric W. Dempsey

1994-2002

Issues/accomplishments

• Black Coaches Association threatens boycott of Division I men's basketball games after 1994 Convention defeats a proposal to increase the number of men's basketball grants-in-aid from 13 to 14. Threat is subsequently averted.
• Conference commissioners announce a plan to restructure NCAA governance and eliminate the one-school, one-vote principle for Division I.
• NCAA and CBS agree on new $1.725 billion, eight-year television contract.
• Federal judge rules that NCAA restricted-earnings coaching position is illegal. The NCAA and the plaintiffs eventually reach a $54 million settlement.
• NCAA opens governmental relations office in Washington, D.C.
• The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education issues a document clarifying the three-part Title IX compliance test.
• New "super alliance" bowl arrangement announced, guaranteeing a matchup between the top two Division I-A football teams.
• Final part of governance restructuring approved at 1997 Convention; federated structure takes effect in August 1997.
• National office relocates from Overland Park, Kansas, to Indianapolis.
• Plaintiffs challenge legality of Division I initial-eligibility standards.
• The NCAA reaches an 11-year, $6 billion bundled-rights agreement with CBS Sports.
• Football Oversight Committee formed to examine Division I-A membership requirements, postseason bowl issues and enhancement of Division I-AA football.
• Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics produces a second report that seeks action on academic reform, financial pressures and excessive commercialization in intercollegiate athletics.
• 11-year agreement reached with ESPN to televise the Division I Women's Basketball Championship and 20 other NCAA championships.
• Division I presidential task force appointed to examine forces that affect the behavior of Division I institutions.
• The Bush Administration conducts a series of public hearings to determine if changes are needed in the way Title IX is to be applied to athletics.
• Dempsey announces in January 2002 his plans to retire at the end of 2002.

Myles Brand

January 2003-September 16, 2009

Issues/accomplishments

• In his first State of the Association address, Brand says his presidency will be structured on two platforms: academic reform and advocacy of intercollegiate athletics.
• Responding to a congressional bill that would provide pay for play, Brand says paying student-athletes would essentially ruin the integrity of the college game.
• A federal panel appointed to review Title IX completes its work, stating that the Department of Education is committed to a policy of continuing the progress that Title IX has brought toward true equality of opportunity for male and female student-athletes is America.
• Division III delegates at the 2004 Convention adopt reform proposals that include creating an electronic financial aid reporting process and the elimination of redshirting.
• The NCAA Executive Committee approves a comprehensive strategic plan that includes a core ideology, an envisioned future, and three-year and five-year outcome-oriented goals.
• Division II conducts its first National Championships Festival that combines several championships at one site.
• Brand creates an office of diversity and inclusion at the NCAA national office.
• Division I adopts the Academic Progress Rate and the Graduation Success Rate as part of a comprehensive academic-reform package that holds institutions accountable for student-athlete academic success. Division II adopts its own Academic Success Rate to more accurately measure the number of student-athletes earning degrees.
• Division II chancellors and presidents conduct a summit to build a branding campaign for the division.
• The NCAA purchases the rights to own and operate the preseason and postseason National Invitation Tournaments.
• The Executive Committee adopts championship restrictions for institutions with Native American mascots and imagery deemed hostile or abusive.
• Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision adopts legislation to allow for a 12th regular-season game.
• The Executive Committee urges institutions not to use an e-mail survey suggested by the Department of Education as a way to comply with the third prong (assessment of interest) of the three-part Title IX test.
• Brand arranges a three-year partnership between the NCAA and Habitat for Humanity in the aftermath of devastating hurricanes along the Gulf Coast.
• The Association conducts its 100th NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The theme of the Centennial is Celebrating the Student-Athlete.
• The NCAA Presidential Task Force of the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics releases a report calling for moderation in athletics spending and continued integration of athletics into the university mission.
• Division II begins a community-engagement initiative that further solidifies its commitment to its strategic-positioning platform.
• The NCAA establishes a review process for suspect preparatory schools.
• The NCAA establishes the Eligibility Center to consolidate academic and amateurism certifications for prospective student-athletes.
• The Association undertakes a review of membership standards in an effort to manage growth, particularly in Division III.
• Division I adopts a package of proposals designed to support the academic success of baseball student-athletes. The practice leads to several other groups focusing on academic performance in men's basketball and football.
• At the recommendation of the Presidential Task Force, the NCAA develops a financial database system of dashboard indicators that allows presidents to compare revenue and expenses.
• Division II approves legislation at the Convention paving the way for Canadian institutions to apply for Division II membership.
• Brand charges working groups in men's basketball and football to identify barriers to student-athlete academic success in those sports and recommend solutions.
• The Task Force on Commercial Activity releases a set of guiding principles and best practices for commercialism in college sports. The topic is also the focus of Brand's sixth State of the Association address at the January Convention.
• The Division I Board of Directors appoints a membership-based commercialism oversight group to monitor trends in athletics and ensure, both through legislation and good judgment, that student-athletes are not exploited.
• Brand dies from pancreatic cancer on September 16, 2009.