National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Feb 25, 2010 9:38:19 AM

NCAA Executive Vice President Tom Jernstedt is one of eight men named for induction into the 2010 National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Jernstedt, who has worked at the NCAA for 38 years, will be joined in the contributor category by Wayne Duke, a former NCAA staffer and commissioner of the Big Eight and Big Ten Conferences.

The other honorees are former All-Americans Christian Laettner of Duke and Sidney Wicks of UCLA, and former coaches Tex Winter and Davey Whitney.

Jerry West and David Thompson will be recognized as members of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame's founding class, which honors those who've been enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame before the college hall of fame opened in 2006.

The induction ceremony is November 21 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jernstedt is being honored for his work with the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. For the better part of three decades, Jernstedt has been a behind-the-scenes, driving force with the championship and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee.

Most college basketball fans wouldn't have any idea of the role Jernstedt has played in the growth of men's basketball, but stakeholders in the sport know it is a well-deserved honor.

"This is very humbling," Jernstedt said. "I'm honored and grateful. There are others who are considerably more deserving. I've enjoyed working behind the scenes, but this isn't as much behind the scenes as I would prefer."

During his tenure with the committee, the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship has grown into a staple on the American sports scene.

Through the years, he has helped the committee on expansion decisions, the size and scope of tournament venues and been a part of negotiating teams to secure marketing and broadcast contracts.

Since the rights fees to the championship generate more than 90 percent of the NCAA revenues, these times are markedly important.

"At the outset of a negotiation those involved understand the magnitude of the responsibility," Jernstedt said. "They are committed to negotiating the best possible contract for the NCAA so the resources and opportunities will continue to be available for the men and women student-athletes who compete in NCAA championships."

While the high-level business decisions played a part in his NCAA career, Jernstedt cherishes the friendships he's established along the way.

"To have the opportunity to work for the NCAA and serve as a liaison to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee since 1972 is more than I'd ever hope for," said Jernstedt, who grew up in Carlton, Oregon, a town of about 1,000 people. "Walter Byers (the NCAA's first CEO) and Lou Spry (former longtime NCAA controller) provided the opportunity to join the NCAA staff, and I'll be forever grateful to them and many others."

Among the frequent questions about the 10-member committee responsible for the selection, seeding and bracketing of the tournament is its administrator-dominated composition (rather than coaches). Some critics believe the group should be populated with people who have more of a basketball background.

Jernstedt isn't one of those people. He believes different perspectives benefit the process.

 "We have always had outstanding administrators on the basketball committee who don't have a strong basketball background," Jernstedt said. "Based on my observations, this works best for the committee."

He points to Bob Bowlsby, the director of athletics at Stanford, and former Duke AD Tom Butters as men who served the committee well. Both men are former chairs of the basketball committee and neither had a strong basketball background.

Bowlsby, who was at Iowa when he chaired the group, also chaired the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee at one point in his career. Butters was a former pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates before entering intercollegiate athletics administration.

Butters also happened to select a little-known coach named Mike Krzyzewski, who was coming off a 9-17 season at Army, to run the Duke program in 1980. That turned out to be a pretty good hire for a "baseball guy" to make.

Earlier this month, Jernstedt spoke with Butters, while a mock media selection exercise was being conducted at the national office.

"He told me that the greatest thing that happened to him in intercollegiate athletics was serving on the basketball committee," Jernstedt said. "He said those times with the committee on selection weekend were the most explosive, interesting and challenging period of his three decades in intercollegiate athletics. It is a good example of someone who didn't have a basketball background but who had the commitment, interest and passion to serve on this committee."