Larry Scott to head Pac-10 Conference

The months-long search for Tom Hansen’s successor as commissioner of the Pacific 10 Conference ended Tuesday with the hiring of Larry Scott, a former tennis star at Harvard who most recently has earned high marks as chairman and chief executive of the Women’s Tennis Assn.

Scott will take over for Hansen, Pac-10 commissioner for the last 26 years, on July 1.

Scott, 44, said he had never met Hansen but was eager to learn all he could from the commissioner who led the conference through unprecedented growth.

“I want to be a sponge,” Scott said.

Scott called Pac-10 schools “amazing academic institutions with a wonderful athletic history.”

Scott has a strong marketing and television background and is credited with returning stability and credibility to the women’s tennis tour. He helped craft the largest-ever sponsorship in women’s sports, a six-year, $88-million title sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson.

“Our search committee was most impressed with Larry’s broad range of leadership experiences in both men’s and women’s sports,” said Bob Bowlsby, Stanford athletic director and head of the commissioner search committee.

After earning All-American honors in tennis at Harvard, where he graduated in 1986, Scott played three seasons on the Assn. of Tennis Professionals (ATP) circuit. His highest ranking was No. 210 in singles and No. 69 in doubles.

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Times staff writer Bill Dwyre contributed to this report.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com