Farrell Named Big West Commissioner

Dennis Farrell, associate commissioner of the Big West Conference, was selected Wednesday as its new commissioner.

Farrell, 41, succeeds Jim Haney, who left to become executive director of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches.

“The Big West has an excellent new commissioner in Dennis Farrell,” read a statement from Robert Maxson, UNLV president and a member of the search committee. “He has already proved himself to be an excellent athletic administrator in more than 12 years with the Big West, and we are confident he will meet the challenges of leading this dynamic conference.”

Maxson said Farrell’s appointment will be effective when the selection is ratified by the conference’s executive committee.

“The challenges of college athletics in the 1990s are great, but with creative, cooperative efforts from everyone in the Big West, we can look to a bright future,” Farrell said.