DALLAS – The American Athletic Conference presidents, athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives concluded the conference’s annual meetings Thursday at the Grand Hyatt DFW.
Meetings were held June 1-2 with the leadership of the nine continuing members of The American and the six incoming members. The focal point of the meetings was the future of intercollegiate athletics, maintaining The American’s place among the top conferences nationally, and affirming the conference’s commitment to student-athlete welfare in a changing landscape.
This year’s meeting was the first large-scale, in-person meeting for the conference since 2019. It came on the heels of a groundbreaking year in The American, which was one of only two Division I conferences to have teams reach both the College Football Playoff Semifinals and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
“It was critically important for us to return to an in-person meeting, and I could not be more pleased with the collaboration and the discussions during our sessions,” said American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco. “We are in an unprecedented period of fundamental and rapid change across many fronts, from conference membership to the very nature of the college athletics model. I appreciated the insightful discussions during our meetings that will keep the American Athletic Conference in a leadership position as we consider the future of intercollegiate athletics.
“I would particularly like to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of our Board chair, Tulane President Michael Fitts, and our outgoing Athletic Directors chair, Michael Kelly of South Florida, and to thank them for their support and important contributions to our conference. I welcome Rick Hart of SMU as our new Athletic Directors chair. Rick has had a distinguished career at SMU and I look forward to working with him as we navigate this transformative period.”
The conference’s strong financial status was highlighted during a presentation of The American’s Finance Committee. Revenues and distributions to institutional members were both better than projected, while conference expenses were lower than projected.
The athletic directors evaluated a number of football scheduling models for the eventual 14-team configuration with the goals of maximizing exposure, providing premium inventory for ESPN, creating equitable schedules and having all teams play each other as frequently as possible. The group similarly considered a number of factors designed to improve the individual schools’ metrics in men’s and women’s basketball, including strategic nonconference scheduling and participation in quality in-season tournaments.
The conference and its members were cited by ESPN as early leaders in the significant growth of the ESPN+ platform, which now numbers 22.3 million subscribers. Specifically, The American was lauded for having the best men’s basketball viewership and second-best women’s basketball viewership on ESPN+ among conferences with more than 100 games on the service.
The attendees spent considerable time addressing the myriad changes and future challenges to the NCAA Division I model and discussed strategies for the near and long-term future in light of the deliberations of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee and votes by the NCAA Division I Council. The entire conference membership engaged in a wide-ranging conversation regarding the global issues in college sports, and the conference aims to take a leading role in the critical process of reinventing college sports. Commissioner Aresco currently serves as chair of the Conference Commissioners Association. Vice Admiral Sean Buck, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, provided insight as a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, while Michael Kelly, Associate Vice-President for Athletics at South Florida, offered perspective from his seat on the NCAA Division I Council. Troy Dannen, Athletic Director at Tulane University, provided a comprehensive update on the progress of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee.
The members additionally discussed strategies pertaining to the aggregation and distribution of The American’s sports data, were updated by the commissioner on the status and potential timeline regarding discussions for a new College Football Playoff format, that would begin in 2026, and reinforced the conference’s Power 6 campaign, which aligns The American favorably with its competitive peers at the highest level of Division I.
Lynda Black, Associate Professor of Law at Memphis and the chair of The American’s faculty athletics representatives, presented on behalf of the conference’s academic consortium, which has funded more than $230,000 in research projects to support student-athlete well-being. The consortium will further provide $1,500 to each institutional Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to enhance the Pow6rful Minds campaign and diversity and inclusion efforts on each campus.
The membership was updated on a number of initiatives from the conference’s Racial Equality Action Group, including the introduction of two awards to recognize diversity, equity and inclusion within The American. The Together We Stand Award will go to an eligible coach, student-athlete or staff member who demonstrates excellence in advancing racial equality, while the Commissioner’s Trailblazer Award will honor the legacies and contributions of BIPOC student-athletes, coaches and staff. The conference also established an operational plan to institute racial equality as a pillar of The American’s strategic plan, created a database of minority-owned restaurants and businesses in close proximity to each member institution and instituted a financial literacy program for use by member schools. The REAG composition was also expanded to include an administrator and a coach from each of The American’s member institutions.
Tulane basketball student-athlete Sion James and SMU soccer student-athlete Courtney Sebazco represented The American’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and provided updates in areas of student-athlete advocacy, civic engagement, diversity and inclusion and mental health. The conference membership also viewed a video presentation from the conference’s outgoing SAAC chair, former Tulsa football student-athlete Chris Paul, who is in Washington, D.C., with the NFL’s Washington Commanders, and commended Chris for his terrific work and commitment as SAAC chair.
The American unanimously approved two initiatives proposed by the conference’s senior woman administrators. The American’s Women’s Golf Championship will be held at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida, in 2023 and 2024. The conference also adjusted the dates for its 2023 Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, to February 13-18, allowing for three days of diving competition and three days of swimming events.
Finally, The American announced the following appointments to conference committees, effective June 2:
· Dr. R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University, will serve as Vice Chair of the American Athletic Conference Board of Directors. Vice Admiral Sean Buck, superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, Rhea Law, president of the University of South Florida, and Brad Carson, president of the University of Tulsa have all been appointed to the Board of Directors Executive Committee through 2024.
· Dr. Philip G. Rogers, chancellor of East Carolina University, will chair the Board of Directors Audit Committee. Dr. Richard Muma, president of Wichita State University, and Dr. Bill Hardgrave, president of the University of Memphis, have been appointed to the committee through 2024.
· Rick Hart (SMU) will serve as chair of the Athletic Directors Executive Committee. Jon Gilbert (East Carolina) will serve as vice chair and will be joined on the committee by Michael Kelly (South Florida), Laird Veatch (Memphis) and Lauren Ashman (Memphis senior woman administrator) through 2024.
· Sarah Adams (Senior Woman Administrator, Wichita State), will serve on the Athletic Directors Executive Sportsmanship Committee through 2024.
· In addition to his role as vice chair of the Athletic Directors Executive Committee, Jon Gilbert (East Carolina) will continue to chair the Athletic Directors Finance Committee. He will be joined on the committee by Rick Hart (SMU), and Caroline Bevillard (Senior Woman Administrator, East Carolina) through 2024.
· Lauren Ashman (Memphis) will chair the Senior Woman Administrators/Olympic Sports Committee. Susan Vollmerhausen (SMU) will serve as vice chair through 2024.
· Kris Pierce (South Florida) will serve as the Senior Woman Administrator liaison to the conference’s Sports Medicine Group through 2024.
· Jessica Reo (Senior Woman Administrator, Temple) and Marlon Dechausay (Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Welfare, Memphis) will serve on the conference’s SAAC and Advisory Committee through 2024. Sion James (Tulane men’s basketball) will chair the conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and will serve on the NCAA Division I SAAC.
· Charvi Greer (Deputy Athletic Director, Tulane) will serve as the SWA representative to the conference’s Racial Equality Action Group. Michele Adams (Faculty Athletic Representative, Tulane) will serve as the FAR representative to the REAG.
Meetings were held June 1-2 with the leadership of the nine continuing members of The American and the six incoming members. The focal point of the meetings was the future of intercollegiate athletics, maintaining The American’s place among the top conferences nationally, and affirming the conference’s commitment to student-athlete welfare in a changing landscape.
This year’s meeting was the first large-scale, in-person meeting for the conference since 2019. It came on the heels of a groundbreaking year in The American, which was one of only two Division I conferences to have teams reach both the College Football Playoff Semifinals and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
“It was critically important for us to return to an in-person meeting, and I could not be more pleased with the collaboration and the discussions during our sessions,” said American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco. “We are in an unprecedented period of fundamental and rapid change across many fronts, from conference membership to the very nature of the college athletics model. I appreciated the insightful discussions during our meetings that will keep the American Athletic Conference in a leadership position as we consider the future of intercollegiate athletics.
“I would particularly like to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of our Board chair, Tulane President Michael Fitts, and our outgoing Athletic Directors chair, Michael Kelly of South Florida, and to thank them for their support and important contributions to our conference. I welcome Rick Hart of SMU as our new Athletic Directors chair. Rick has had a distinguished career at SMU and I look forward to working with him as we navigate this transformative period.”
The conference’s strong financial status was highlighted during a presentation of The American’s Finance Committee. Revenues and distributions to institutional members were both better than projected, while conference expenses were lower than projected.
The athletic directors evaluated a number of football scheduling models for the eventual 14-team configuration with the goals of maximizing exposure, providing premium inventory for ESPN, creating equitable schedules and having all teams play each other as frequently as possible. The group similarly considered a number of factors designed to improve the individual schools’ metrics in men’s and women’s basketball, including strategic nonconference scheduling and participation in quality in-season tournaments.
The conference and its members were cited by ESPN as early leaders in the significant growth of the ESPN+ platform, which now numbers 22.3 million subscribers. Specifically, The American was lauded for having the best men’s basketball viewership and second-best women’s basketball viewership on ESPN+ among conferences with more than 100 games on the service.
The attendees spent considerable time addressing the myriad changes and future challenges to the NCAA Division I model and discussed strategies for the near and long-term future in light of the deliberations of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee and votes by the NCAA Division I Council. The entire conference membership engaged in a wide-ranging conversation regarding the global issues in college sports, and the conference aims to take a leading role in the critical process of reinventing college sports. Commissioner Aresco currently serves as chair of the Conference Commissioners Association. Vice Admiral Sean Buck, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, provided insight as a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, while Michael Kelly, Associate Vice-President for Athletics at South Florida, offered perspective from his seat on the NCAA Division I Council. Troy Dannen, Athletic Director at Tulane University, provided a comprehensive update on the progress of the NCAA Division I Transformation Committee.
The members additionally discussed strategies pertaining to the aggregation and distribution of The American’s sports data, were updated by the commissioner on the status and potential timeline regarding discussions for a new College Football Playoff format, that would begin in 2026, and reinforced the conference’s Power 6 campaign, which aligns The American favorably with its competitive peers at the highest level of Division I.
Lynda Black, Associate Professor of Law at Memphis and the chair of The American’s faculty athletics representatives, presented on behalf of the conference’s academic consortium, which has funded more than $230,000 in research projects to support student-athlete well-being. The consortium will further provide $1,500 to each institutional Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to enhance the Pow6rful Minds campaign and diversity and inclusion efforts on each campus.
The membership was updated on a number of initiatives from the conference’s Racial Equality Action Group, including the introduction of two awards to recognize diversity, equity and inclusion within The American. The Together We Stand Award will go to an eligible coach, student-athlete or staff member who demonstrates excellence in advancing racial equality, while the Commissioner’s Trailblazer Award will honor the legacies and contributions of BIPOC student-athletes, coaches and staff. The conference also established an operational plan to institute racial equality as a pillar of The American’s strategic plan, created a database of minority-owned restaurants and businesses in close proximity to each member institution and instituted a financial literacy program for use by member schools. The REAG composition was also expanded to include an administrator and a coach from each of The American’s member institutions.
Tulane basketball student-athlete Sion James and SMU soccer student-athlete Courtney Sebazco represented The American’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and provided updates in areas of student-athlete advocacy, civic engagement, diversity and inclusion and mental health. The conference membership also viewed a video presentation from the conference’s outgoing SAAC chair, former Tulsa football student-athlete Chris Paul, who is in Washington, D.C., with the NFL’s Washington Commanders, and commended Chris for his terrific work and commitment as SAAC chair.
The American unanimously approved two initiatives proposed by the conference’s senior woman administrators. The American’s Women’s Golf Championship will be held at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida, in 2023 and 2024. The conference also adjusted the dates for its 2023 Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, to February 13-18, allowing for three days of diving competition and three days of swimming events.
Finally, The American announced the following appointments to conference committees, effective June 2:
· Dr. R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University, will serve as Vice Chair of the American Athletic Conference Board of Directors. Vice Admiral Sean Buck, superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, Rhea Law, president of the University of South Florida, and Brad Carson, president of the University of Tulsa have all been appointed to the Board of Directors Executive Committee through 2024.
· Dr. Philip G. Rogers, chancellor of East Carolina University, will chair the Board of Directors Audit Committee. Dr. Richard Muma, president of Wichita State University, and Dr. Bill Hardgrave, president of the University of Memphis, have been appointed to the committee through 2024.
· Rick Hart (SMU) will serve as chair of the Athletic Directors Executive Committee. Jon Gilbert (East Carolina) will serve as vice chair and will be joined on the committee by Michael Kelly (South Florida), Laird Veatch (Memphis) and Lauren Ashman (Memphis senior woman administrator) through 2024.
· Sarah Adams (Senior Woman Administrator, Wichita State), will serve on the Athletic Directors Executive Sportsmanship Committee through 2024.
· In addition to his role as vice chair of the Athletic Directors Executive Committee, Jon Gilbert (East Carolina) will continue to chair the Athletic Directors Finance Committee. He will be joined on the committee by Rick Hart (SMU), and Caroline Bevillard (Senior Woman Administrator, East Carolina) through 2024.
· Lauren Ashman (Memphis) will chair the Senior Woman Administrators/Olympic Sports Committee. Susan Vollmerhausen (SMU) will serve as vice chair through 2024.
· Kris Pierce (South Florida) will serve as the Senior Woman Administrator liaison to the conference’s Sports Medicine Group through 2024.
· Jessica Reo (Senior Woman Administrator, Temple) and Marlon Dechausay (Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Welfare, Memphis) will serve on the conference’s SAAC and Advisory Committee through 2024. Sion James (Tulane men’s basketball) will chair the conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and will serve on the NCAA Division I SAAC.
· Charvi Greer (Deputy Athletic Director, Tulane) will serve as the SWA representative to the conference’s Racial Equality Action Group. Michele Adams (Faculty Athletic Representative, Tulane) will serve as the FAR representative to the REAG.
