Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack has been appointed to a 5-year term as a member of the NCAA’s Division basketball selection committee.
(N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse.com)N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syra
Syracuse, N.Y. ― John Wildhack, Syracuse’s director of athletics, has been appointed to the NCAA’s Dvision I Men’s Basketball Committee.
The NCAA made the announcement on Friday.
Wildhack replaces North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s representative on the committee. Wildhack will serve a five-year term that will officially begin Sept. 1 and end in 2030.
The NCAA Selection Committee is responsible for selecting and seeding the 68 teams that compete in the NCAA’s men’s basketball tournament.
“It’s a privilege to represent Syracuse University and the Atlantic Coast Conference on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee,” Wildhack said in a statement released by the NCAA. “I’m thankful to Commissioner (Jim) Phillips for nominating me. The NCAA tournament is one of the great sporting events in the world. I look forward and am honored to work with (NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball) Dan Gavitt, the NCAA staff and my fellow committee members.”
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips hailed Wildhack’s appointment as the conference’s representative on the committee.
“John has long been a passionate and influential voice for college basketball and will bring insight, experience, and energy to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee,’’ Phillips said in a statement. ”He succeeds Bubba Cunningham, whose five years of service — including last year as chair — have been invaluable, and we thank him for his outstanding leadership.”
Wildhack’s appointment to the committee would seem to indicate that Wildhack has no plans to retire as Syracuse’s AD.
His last known contract extension came in 2020 and ran through the 2024-25 academic year.
Wildhack is the third Syracuse director of athletics to serve on the committee, joining Lew Andreas (1954-59) and Jake Crouthamel (1991-96).
The other members on the committee are incoming Chair Keith Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, as well as Greg Byrne of Alabama, Mark Coyle of Minnesota, Irma Garcia of Manhattan, Stu Jackson of the West Coast Conference, Arthur Johnson of Temple, Zack Lassiter of Abilene Christian, Martin Newton of Samford, Lee Reed of Georgetown, Chad Weiberg of Oklahoma State and Tom Wistrcill of the Big Sky Conference.
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