Apr 30, 2010 8:23:46 AM

NCAA President-Elect Mark Emmert met with the Division III Presidents Council for the first time Thursday and pledged his support of a division he believes is integral to the success of the Association.

Though Emmert's administrative and professional background has been at the Division I level (he currently is the president at Washington and was the chancellor at LSU, in addition to roles at Connecticut, Montana State and Colorado), he said it was apparent during the presidential search process that the Association wanted a leader who understood all three divisions.

"All of the candidates were quite sure that they would be in charge of something much greater than running the Final Four," he quipped.

Emmert also met Thursday with the Division I Board of Directors and the Division II Presidents Council.

He  emphasized that all of the Association's diverse components are important for the intercollegiate athletics enterprise to succeed.

"It's critical that, going forward, we make sure everyone understands that while the NCAA's three divisions are distinctive, they also are joined by common values," Emmert said. "The goals and values of student-athlete learning and well-being are the same, whether we're talking about a football game at the Big House at Michigan or a soccer game at Hobart."

He asked the Division III Presidents Council members to suggest issues that he would need to focus on early in his presidency.

After a polite pause, Council members urged Emmert to continue the NCAA's focus on the student part of student-athlete, which is something they see as integral to the division's recent identity campaign.

"As presidents, we often hear about the athletics ability of students being their ticket to education," one Council member said. "But getting thThis portlet is temporarily disabled.