![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3-big-east-coaches.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhat are you going to do next? Because you don\u2019t strike me as the retiring kind.<\/p>\n
Val Ackerman: Well, first of all, great to see both of you guys and thank you for the great work you all do supporting the sport of basketball. You all are lifers like I\u2019ve been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So it was sort of not one thing, Seth. I\u2019ve been at this now, this is my 38th year in the sports business, starting back in 1988 when I took my first job as staff attorney at the NBA working for Gary Bettman, then the general counsel.<\/p>\n
Spent 16 years at the league, first on the men\u2019s side, then on the women\u2019s side, and then following that did, as you mentioned, work for USA Basketball, for FIBA. Then I\u2019ve had the honor for the last 13 years of being associated with the Big East. I\u2019m no kid anymore. I\u2019m not afraid to tell my age \u2014 I\u2019ll be 67 this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just feel like the things that I hoped I would be able to do for the Big East have been done. We\u2019ve got some important business relationships now securely in place with our television arrangement, which is set now for another five years following this year, year one of our six year deal. We\u2019ve got our deal with (Madison Square) Garden set through 2032, and hopefully for many years after that. We\u2019ve got some other business deals that are also important that are in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It just seemed like the right time, frankly, for me to take my bow and then help the league make the transition over to the next leader. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll be another great leader in the Big East. So a combination of factors, I think. This was on my mind the last few months really, but I didn\u2019t want to make a fuss during the basketball season. I really did want the attention to be on our schools and of course our great March Madness run.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So this just seemed like the right time to reveal my plans. I want to thank our board for being supportive of that. We\u2019re hard at work now with the plan for the succession and the replacement. We will have a search firm hired soon and they\u2019ll run point on the process of identifying and then interviewing candidates. We\u2019ll try to put it on as fast a track as we can, because we would like to have this person in place by Labor Day. The good news is without football, we don\u2019t have quite as busy a schedule during the summer months as the football leagues have. So there is some breathing room this time of year that I think can certainly help with the transition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s really it. It\u2019s been really exciting and an honor to do this. And I know the Big East will continue to do great things.<\/p>\n
Andy Katz: All right, so Val, I\u2019ll have you talk about yourself here for a moment. You are a trailblazer, which is really amazing when you think about every touchstone that you\u2019ve had in this sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In what way do you think you\u2019ve had the most impact?<\/p>\n
Ackerman: Well, I take great pride, Andy, in being somebody that women in the business can point to and say, hey, wow, it can be done. Because I didn\u2019t really have any women to look up to when I \u2014 at least\u00a0 in management \u2014 when I was starting out at the NBA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To be honest, the women I really looked to as role models were Pat Summitt, not because she was in management, but because she just was this amazing, strong, successful woman who was working in basketball. And then I always admired Robin Roberts who I had a chance to work with early on. She, believe it or not, was doing talent work. She was doing play by play for the first batch of WNBA games on ESPN with Pat Summit as the analyst. So, you know, those two really made a great impression on me, but now I sort of see so many women getting in the business and I really do hope that the fact that I\u2019ve been able to get some things done will inspire them a little bit as they look to bring up the rear and beyond. So that\u2019s one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do think launching the WNBA was massive. It was hard work. There were naysayers around every single corner. David Stern gets all the credit for getting this done at the NBA and convincing NBA owners at that time that women were going to be so important to the future of the game of basketball. And that was the NBA\u2019s agenda at that time. And so being part of that was really incredible. Being part of the first Dream Team was really incredible. Great memories of traveling in Barcelona with the rock stars of the game.<\/p>\n
But frankly, being able to help get the Big East back on track. That\u2019s why I did it for so long. I had a five-year contract when this started up and it became so important to me to keep at it. That\u2019s why I hung around for a few more contracts. So getting the Big East back and really, I think I\u2019ll close by saying, reinforcing that a basketball league can make it in a football world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three of the Big East\u2019s big-time coaches: Rick Pitino (St. John\u2019s), Dan Hurley (UConn) and Kevin Willard (Villanova)<\/p>\n
Getty\/HHQ Lin<\/p>\n
And everything that we\u2019ve been able to do in terms of our tournament, in terms of focus on basketball, in terms of perpetuating the legacy of the league with its high-profile coaches, the great players that have gone on to play in the NBA, all of that stuff is \u2014and to think about Dave Gavitt, who I knew, and what he was trying to get accomplished. And the fact that we\u2019ve been able to carry on his legacy here is a point of pride.<\/p>\n
Andy: One quick follow up. Early on in your career, as you just stated, Val \u2014 as I said, you\u2019re a trailblazer \u2014 so often you were the only woman in the room. And now, we\u2019re seeing more female commissioners and more women in authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Early on, what was it like to walk into those rooms, whether it was NBA, USA, wherever it was, and you\u2019re the only woman?<\/p>\n
Ackerman: Well, I sort of just rolled with it, Andy. I don\u2019t know how to say this. I just always felt very comfortable being around guys. I mean, I\u2019m a sports person and so I feel like I\u2019m fluent in the language of sports. I think people were able to quickly understand my sincerity, my knowledge base. I\u2019ve tried to have kind of the right manner in terms of dealing with people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guys that I\u2019ve worked with have \u2014 there have been a few exceptions \u2014 but most of them have been fabulous to work with. And I don\u2019t really think of them as men. I just think of them as people I work with. So I\u2019ve never really found it to be that sort of hard to deal with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I will say the interlude where it was hardest for me was when I was having my kids. And I really did feel like some folks were looking at me like I had a third eye. Because I\u2019m walking into those same rooms and now I\u2019m seven months pregnant. And, you know, I\u2019m dealing with men whose wives didn\u2019t work and certainly didn\u2019t come back to work if they\u2019d had kids. So I think that was probably one of the tougher interludes during my career, convincing people that I was really serious about my job and hanging in there. And my husband Charlie was working too, so those were some tougher years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But again, back to your point, I want to exude optimism here about more women than ever before in the business. And as they go higher up the ranks, hopefully we will see more women in the room once you get to the top tiers.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Seth: Let\u2019s dig into some of the topics of the day. We only get to grill you on these for a little while longer. You\u2019ve been talking to me and so many others about this incredible shift, huge disruption in college sports over to pay for play. And in the wake of the House settlement, Val, you and I talked about how this could be a great thing for the Big East because that was a salary cap. So revenue sharing was going to be capped at $20.5 million across the board.<\/p>\n A lot of that was going to go to football at all these schools, and the Big East doesn\u2019t have football on that level. So that should have been an advantage, coupled with NIL payments being true NIL as opposed to a boost to pay for play, regulated and all that. It just seems to me like it\u2019s as if all that never happened. Everybody is just continuing to spend as if there is no settlement. There is no NIL or CSC (College Sports Commission) or any of that. Therefore, further putting the Big East at a disadvantage because now you don\u2019t have that football money to spend without a cap.\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s your take on the situation in the Big East in the current environment and in the future?<\/p>\n Ackerman: Well, I\u2019ll share your, I think, implied suggestion here that there\u2019s no rules and no cap. And I want to qualify that by saying I have tremendous respect for Bryan Seeley, who is running the CSC, who I\u2019ve had many dealings with. I\u2019ve tried to be a resource to him. And I know he\u2019s working earnestly and very hard to try to create a system here that is true to the House settlement.<\/p>\n That does allow for some restrictions here, which I think was the deal. That yeah, the players would now have these enhanced revenue opportunities through direct payments, most of all, but that there\u2019d still be some regulation around it to try to prevent out-of-control spending. I think this is proving to be really hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s not a judgment against Bryan, because I think he understands it implicitly and he\u2019s trying hard, but really, I don\u2019t think anybody would really have expected it to be this far off from where we thought it would be. And so what does it mean for the Big East? Well we\u2019re very much in it. I mean, our schools, we don\u2019t have the football payments. We have some resources. We have very passionate donor bases, and they\u2019re a big part of things, as you probably know.<\/p>\n Our schools are prepared to use institutional money, which is now allowable with the rev share system to compensate basketball players. And back to the other things, my other feeling is that we have some other really important things in place. I mean, all the other stuff you need doesn\u2019t go away in terms of, it\u2019s important. So we\u2019ve got the TV. Our players have great exposure. We\u2019ve got the Garden. We\u2019re playing in big markets. We\u2019re playing in NBA buildings most of the time \u2014 at least half of the time. And we\u2019ve got great, great fan support there. They\u2019re the big guys on campus and our women are too, because basketball is the priority sport on both fronts.\u00a0<\/p>\n So I do think we have some, we have the attributes that you need all rolled up to be successful. But I can\u2019t say it\u2019s not getting harder for everybody. If you talk to a (power four) AD, they\u2019re probably stressing as much as our guys are because they have to pay the football players. So I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t have a crystal ball here on where we\u2019re going to be in a couple of years with this. I think for now, the Big East will continue to be, what I would call, leaning in hard in basketball. Our schools are spending money to acquire the players that they think are necessary to meet their competitive aspirations.\u00a0<\/p>\n So it goes, and we\u2019ll get the tournament: multiple bids and hopefully continue with deep runs for the foreseeable future. But if you were to ask me, what\u2019s it to look like in 10 years or maybe even five years? I\u2019m going to confess, I don\u2019t have the answer.<\/p>\n Andy: Val, we\u2019ve talked many times about expansion and access to the tournament. As we are taping this, it\u2019s not official, but all signs point to 76 on the men\u2019s and the women\u2019s sides. And it certainly would have benefited the Big East, because there were a couple of teams that were on the wrong side the last couple of years.\u00a0<\/p>\n How do you think the 76 team NCAA Tournament is going to work on the men\u2019s and women\u2019s sides?<\/p>\n Ackerman: Well, we were supportive of this, Andy. We had no objection to it as long as some key objectives were accomplished. And among them was that we wouldn\u2019t go backwards on the money, right? Because expansion means more costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n I know the NCAA, Charlie Baker and Danny Gavitt and others, were working very hard to make sure that the revenue that would come in from the additional games \u2014 from television, from ticket sales, maybe enhanced sponsor dollars \u2014 all of that would cover, and then some, of the costs of expanding. And I feel very confident that if this is close, that those objectives have been accomplished.\u00a0<\/p>\n So yeah, you\u2019re absolutely right. I mean, we always sort of have a team or two on the bubble. We\u2019ve got some locks, and then most leagues at our level, have a team or two on the bubble. So if this means a couple of them get in, that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n We also made it clear in early discussions that we didn\u2019t want to see the window change because no conference \u2014 especially us \u2014 wants to see our conference tournament impacted. As it was explained to us, the way they\u2019re doing this with 76 would not require an earlier start and would allow for a finish at the same time.<\/p>\n So they\u2019re going to maybe, I don\u2019t know, that\u2019s going to be reflected in those early round games. But it means the Big East Tournament, for example, stays intact. We don\u2019t have to mess with that, or the regular season, which was important to the conferences, especially in our case with the success of the Big East Tournament. Because all of that seems to have been accomplished, we\u2019re good with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the women\u2019s side, same. We\u2019re not as deep on the women\u2019s side. UConn is obviously a standard bearer for us. That\u2019s gonna be a point of emphasis, I think, for our board and our ADs going forward, is our investment in women\u2019s basketball. I do worry that the football leagues are gonna be and remain very dominant in women\u2019s basketball. Why? Because they have football dollars to spend. And those football revenues help a lot of other sports besides football. We don\u2019t have the benefit of that.<\/p>\n I do hope the Big East can figure out a way to keep women\u2019s basketball front and center, make the investments needed to stay competitive, to get multiple bids into the tournament. I\u2019ll be helping our schools with their strategic outlook in the coming months. That is definitely on the list. Beyond UConn, whether it\u2019s St. John\u2019s or Marquette or Creighton or Villanova, we have some teams that have been competitive. Hopefully they can keep that.<\/p>\n Seth: Val, last question because you\u2019re not going to have to answer these types of questions in retirement. You\u2019ll be sort of an oracle, maybe speaking from above. If you could be czar of college sports and really change something, or just pick one thing for starters. We have efforts in Congress. There\u2019s this question about eligibility, five-in-five. There\u2019s concern about the survivability of non-revenue sports \u2014 Arkansas just eliminated its tennis program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ackerman seated next to David Stern at the 1996 press conference announcing the inaugural season of the WNBA<\/p>\n NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n If you could start somewhere to fix something to maybe turn the tide, where would you start?<\/p>\n Ackerman: Well, it has to be some legislative solution here to the madness, for one. I was part of the roundtable at the White House. I was assigned to a follow-up committee. We\u2019ve had a couple of calls run by Randy Levine trying to get at these rules, trying to figure out some way to reconcile the antitrust challenges. It may be down the road that we deal with the employment or non-employment question.<\/p>\n State laws \u2014 states have to stand down. It just seems to me we can\u2019t have state judges making decisions that are affecting national policy. I mean, that\u2019s just all messed up to me. So I think that the biggest one for me is some congressional action, even if it\u2019s narrow. We\u2019ll take a skinny SCORE Act at this point, that even if it only deals with eligibility, if we could go back in time a little bit on transfers.<\/p>\n I think if we could get back to one-time immediate eligibility and transfers, that would clean up some of the other problems we\u2019re having around tampering and agent interventions, et cetera. So I think it all starts with that, Seth, the congressional scope of things.\u00a0<\/p>\n But if you ask me for one thing in basketball, I\u2019ve said this before, I would love to see a combined men\u2019s and women\u2019s Final Four. That is my crusade. My dying breath will be combine the damn Final Fours.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love to see a combined men\u2019s and women\u2019s Final Four. That is my crusade. My dying breath will be combine the damn Final Fours.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m joking partly, but I would seriously really, really love to see. I was one of the very few commissioners this year who went to both. Women\u2019s basketball is suffering because the key players are all at the men\u2019s Final Four. And why wouldn\u2019t you be? It\u2019s where the action is. But if we could expose the women to that audience, create some efficiencies, maybe create a colossal commercial property where one plus one would equal five, because it\u2019s all in one place like it is in the Grand Slams in tennis.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve said to the powers that be, let\u2019s try it once. Even if you don\u2019t want to stick with it, let\u2019s just see what it\u2019s like, because I feel very confident it would be massive and great. So anyway, if I had one wish on a non-congressional action point in the sport of basketball, college basketball, that would be my ask.<\/p>\n Andy: Seth, to that point, Val and I have talked about this a lot: it\u2019s gotta be the right city. And we just saw in Indianapolis where they did have, obviously, some fans of the NIT, but they had Division II, Division III, and you\u2019ve got Lucas Oil Stadium, literally down the street from Gainbridge. So you need two facilities that are within proximity. Not saying the women can\u2019t be at the same dome, but if you have multiple facilities, I think it\u2019s easier to deal with extra games and all that.<\/p>\n Ackerman: Think Indy, think Atlanta, think New Orleans, think Vegas. It can be done. It can absolutely be done. And I know there\u2019s been some reservations on both sides. The women, I know have been concerned about overshadowing. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the problem now. I think they could more than hold their own. And certainly being able to gather the writers, to gather all of you in one place would be great.<\/p>\n Andy: I will say this. You were there in Indy. I did a tailgate tipoff on that Friday in downtown Indy where they show the women\u2019s semis on the giant screen in the bars. People were watching the women. On the off days, they were watching the women in the city of the men\u2019s Final Four.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ackerman: Exactly. You have a captive audience. If you put those tickets up for sale, maybe they get $40,000 in the Dome. You don\u2019t even have to play in the 18,000 seat cap. Plus, there\u2019s a revenue opportunity there. That is not insignificant now, as the NCAA is paying all of its legal bills and settlements. It could be a revenue stream.\u00a0<\/p>\n So anyway, I just hope that somebody or somebody thinks, okay, you know what, let\u2019s give that a try. That would be my fondest wish.<\/p>\n Seth: This is probably the most that I\u2019ve thought about this, because I\u2019ve always kind of stopped: Well, that\u2019s just too much logistically in hotels. But from a personal standpoint, I\u2019m a huge fan of women\u2019s college basketball. If I could have gone to the women\u2019s Final Four that Friday night and that Sunday, I would have one-thousand percent been at those games. So Val, let\u2019s form a committee with the three of us. Let\u2019s make it happen. You got nothing better to do. We can be on the shuffleboard court. You are not going to be inactive. That\u2019s what I know.<\/p>\n Ackerman: Let\u2019s do it guys, okay? Done. My golf game\u2019s about to get a whole lot better. I\u2019m just saying.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMeet your guides<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tSeth Davis<\/p>\n Seth Davis, Hoops HQ’s Editor-in-Chief, is an award-winning college basketball writer and broadcaster. Since 2004, Seth has been a host of CBS Sports and Turner Sports’s March Madness NCAA basketball tournament. A writer at Sports Illustrated\u00a0for 22 years and at\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0for six, he is the author of nine books, including the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0best sellers\u00a0Wooden: A Coach\u2019s Life and When March Went Mad: The Game Transformed Basketball.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tMore from Seth Davis \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tAndy Katz<\/p>\n Andy Katz is Hoops HQ’s senior correspondent, an analyst for Turner Sports and the Big Ten Network, and a national correspondent for NCAA.com<\/a>. Previously, he spent 18 years at ESPN as a college basketball reporter, host and anchor. He is a former president of the United States Basketball Writers Association. Follow him on X at @theandykatz<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Ohio](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2266346703.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Ackerman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-661629808.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Seth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Seth-Davis-Business-Card-Photo.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/mI6ZK_Y9_400x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n