Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to follow Mark Emmert as NCAA president

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker was named as the NCAA’s next president, the organization announced Thursday.

The 66-year-old Baker, a Republican, has been governor of the state since 2015 and announced last year that he would not seek re-election for the office, clearing the way for him to take the job as his second term ends Jan. 5.

On March 1, Baker will replace Mark Emmert, who spent 12 years on the job. Emmert will continue to serve the NCAA as a consultant through June 2023.

The NCAA has run into credibility problems during the past decade, specifically in relation to gender equity, getting a handle on the transfer portal in college athletics, and name, image and likeness, which has no federal legislation as the organization has let individual states and schools make their own rules of enforcement. 

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"I am honored to become the next president of the NCAA, an organization that impacts millions of families and countless communities across this country every day," Baker said. "The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge." 

Baker, a Harvard graduate, has no experience in college administration or education, but the NCAA said he will be charged "with building on the NCAA's ongoing transformation efforts" as the new constitution ratified in January gave all three divisions the ability of self-governance.