Good morning. This is LEADOFF, an early look at Atlanta sports.
Georgia Tech's president and the Hawks' vice chairman are members of a commission named Wednesday by the NCAA to examine "a system that clearly is not working" in college basketball.
Tech president G.P. “Bud” Peterson and Hawks vice chairman/part-owner Grant Hill are among 14 people appointed to the Commission on College Basketball.
The commission was formed in the wake of a federal fraud and bribery investigation that has rocked the sport.
“The recent news of a federal investigation into fraud in college basketball made it very clear the NCAA needs to make substantive changes to the way we operate, and do so quickly,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement. “Individuals who break the trust on which college sports is based have no place here.
“While I believe the vast majority of coaches follow the rules, the culture of silence in college basketball enables bad actors, and we need them out of the game. We must take decisive action. This is not a time for half-measures or incremental change.”
Emmert said former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will chair the commission, which will “work with me in examining critical aspects of a system that clearly is not working.”
The full list of commission members can be found here.
Peterson is chair of the NCAA Board of Governors. Hill is a former Duke and NBA star and a member of the Hawks’ ownership group since 2015.
The commission is expected to begin its work next month and make recommendations on legislative, policy and structural changes to the NCAA in April. Areas of focus will include relationships with apparel companies, agents and advisors and the effects on college basketball of the NBA’s “one-and-done” rule.
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