Wrestling with reforms

NCAA boss Brand means well, but is he up to the job?

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The new president of the NCAA is famous for pulling the plug on Bob Knight at Indiana University, but is Myles Brand up to shepherding the reform movement in college sports?

Fresh off his first convention as NCAA boss, everyone wishes Brand well, but there exists skepticism because of the widespread ills and conflicts plaguing big-time college athletics. Reform is going to be a big job.

Yes, his handling of Knight enhanced Brand’s stature and probably helped him land the NCAA job. But that could get dicey now that Knight has fired back with a $2 million lawsuit against IU, and it also doesn't look good that under Brand’s watch last month IU athletic director Michael McNeely resigned amid reports the department faces a deficit of more than $1 million.

Brand doesn’t come to the job with a deep sports resume. He’s not an ex-coach or athletic director. Maybe that's a good thing. Certainly, it’s a welcome change seeing a college president, a former philosophy professor, at the helm for the first time in the NCAA’s 97-year history.

"I’m pleased to see a president in the leadership role," said Nevada-Las Vegas president Carol Harter, a member of the NCAA board of directors. “I like [former NCAA president] Ced Dempsey a lot. He cared deeply about student athletes and academic success.

"All of those things are again true of Myles, plus I think he brings to the table the perception of a president and where athletics fits into the larger academic picture. It is an automatic thing for a president, because that is what they have to do all the time on their own campuses."

Brand still will have to get a handle on the subplots and various agendas of NCAA governance. But even though the academic reform movement is probably two years from being fully in place, the initial steps should take effect by next fall.

“The process is already going so rapidly on academic reform that he is just a cheerleader for that," Harter said.

So maybe he’ll have time to focus on the mercenary side of college sports. As big-time college football and basketball grow closer to their professional cousins, somebody has to draw the line. Somebody has to put a stop to the facilities boom, the goofy contracts handed marquee coaches -- sometimes three and four times the college president’s salary -- and the dismaying number of athletes being allowed to float aimlessly through the academic system.

Is it too late? Brand and the college presidents don’t think so, and that is good. Still, the lasting impression of his first convention is of a guy who wants to make everyone happy. That may be politically smart, but you’d like to see a passionate leader grab a position and refuse to budge. Brand worries about over-commercialization, but doesn’t think we’re there yet -- which makes you wonder where he was this BCS bowl season or if he ever flips on the TV.

He counts himself a solid backer of Title IX, but doesn’t want men losing athletic opportunities, either. He fancies himself a reformer, while pushing the need to sell the virtues of college sports.

Brand suspects potential problems in low graduation rates and overspending by big-time programs, but he’s awaiting specific data to be sure. So what have NCAA number crunchers been collecting all these years?

“We must be clear that reform and advocacy are not merely compatible, they are mutually supporting," Brand offered in his State of the Association speech. “Without genuine reform, the future of intercollegiate athletics is in peril. Without vigorous advocacy, the value of intercollegiate athletics will be unrealized."

OK, the lower divisions of college sports and the minor sports have a lot to sell, and can probably use an advocate. But major college sports like basketball and football are more popular than ever, thanks to the TV networks and, yes, the interest created by betting lines.

The big boys need a reformer, not a forceful advocate. Only time will tell whether Brand and the college presidents carry a big stick.

“Of course, there are concerns whether any president, no matter how committed they are to academic standards, can support their own inclinations in view of the money that is involved," said Linda Bensel-Meyers, head of the Drake Group, an organization of educators dedicated to reforming college athletics.

“The question is how do you balance big-time athletics and academics? What is the NCAA’s role? Is it basically to serve as sort of a cartel for the college football revenues or athletic revenues or is it an academic structure? At present, there is no way that it can balance the two."

If Brand can figure that out, he’ll be doing fine. We'll see.

Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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