Gov. Charlie Baker takes a shot at the 2018 opening of the Boston Celtics new practice facility. (Photo by Sam Berube via Flickr/Office of the Governor)

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER may have been a backup basketball player at Harvard, but at age 66 he’s finally landed a starring role in college sports: Baker will be the next president of the NCAA. 

Baker will take the reins in March, replacing Mark Emmert, who has led the collegiate sports association since 2010, the organization announced Thursday morning. 

In announcing Baker’s selection, the NCAA offered a nod to the moderate Republican’s reputation for bipartisan collaboration and comity. 

“We are excited to welcome Gov. Charlie Baker to the NCAA and eager for him to begin his work with our organization,” said Linda Livingstone, president of Baylor University and Chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, who chaired the presidential search committee. “Gov. Baker has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways. As a former student-athlete himself, husband to a former college gymnast, and father to two former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to our student-athletes and enhancing their collegiate experience. These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics.”

Baker will oversee a sprawling enterprise that includes more than 500,000 college athletes who compete across the NCAA’s three divisions. 

“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 in a statement released by the NCAA. “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. And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come. Over the coming months, I will begin working with student-athletes and NCAA members as we modernize college sports to suit today’s world, while preserving its essential value.”

Baker had been circumspect about his future plans since announcing just over a year ago that he would not seek a third term in office. He dismissed the idea that he’d be a candidate for office anytime soon, but had otherwise given no hint as to what he would do after leaving office in January. 

Gov.-elect Maura Healey, who was co-captain of the women’s basketball team at Harvard and went on to play pro ball in Europe, tweeted out congratulations to Baker, accompanied by a photo of the two them on a basketball court together.

 

 

Michael Jonas works with Laura in overseeing CommonWealth Beacon coverage and editing the work of reporters. His own reporting has a particular focus on politics, education, and criminal justice reform.