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NCAA president dies of cancer

(09/17/09 12:55pm)

NCAA president Myles Brand, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January, passed away yesterday at the age of 67. The NCAA has not yet named his successor. “I don’t think he can be replaced,” former Tulsa president Robert Lawless told USA Today. “I just hope the NCAA can find someone who can carry on the job that Myles began.” Brand is perhaps best remembered for firing Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight during his tenure as IU president. Knight won three national championships in his 29 years with the Hoosiers. But after former player Neil Reed claimed Knight choked him during a 1997 practice, Brand instituted a “zero-tolerance policy” on the coach. Knight stepped out of line again when he grabbed and cursed at a student on campus. A videotape verifying Reed’s claims was also uncovered. After a series of several “defiant and hostile” behaviors, Brand announced the firing of Knight. “No one incident rose to the level of dismissal of coach Knight,” Brand told Bloomberg when his decision was announced on Sept. 10, 2000. “But his persistent and troubling pattern of behavior had to be addressed.” Brand was named president of the NCAA in 2003. He brought to national attention that, because of their high levels of debt, collegiate athletic departments were forcing schools to dip into general funds to balance their budgets. Although he recognized that the NCAA could not force schools to limit their spending, Brand called for more regulation and greater accountability. “None of us appreciated in advance just how entrepreneurial he was,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told Bloomberg. “In one of the most conservative cultures, he encouraged us to maximize our revenue. It changed the NCAA’s risk profile.” Before his time at Indiana, Brand served in administrative positions at Ohio and Oregon. Because of his academic background, Brand put an emphasis on the academic aspect of the student-athlete. “This was a man who understood the importance of a higher education, as well as the benefit of athletics participation as a part of the educational experience,” NCAA vice president Bernard Franklin told ESPN. Brand raised the academic eligibility standards for incoming freshman and current students and eventually instated the Academic Progress Report and Graduation Success Rate, both of which provide statistics on how athletics perform in the classroom. “Myles Brand was my kind of man,” ESPN president George Bodenheimer told ESPN. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

https://www.thedp.com/article/2009/09/ncaa_president_dies_of_cancer

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