Pac-10’s Hansen Under Consideration by NCAA

Tom Hansen, commissioner of the Pacific 10 Conference, is one of about two dozen candidates under consideration to succeed Dick Schultz as executive director of the NCAA.

Hansen said he received a letter Monday from NCAA President Joseph Crowley, chairman of the search committee, informing him that he was among those being considered for the job.

“It was the most complimentary letter we got all day,” said Hansen, whose office has received a stream of calls, letters and faxes from angry University of Washington fans in the wake of the stiff penalties levied against the Huskies by the conference Sunday.

Crowley, University of Nevada president, declined comment on individuals being considered, but said his committee has a “working list of 25 to 30 names.” That list will be cut to about a dozen when the committee meets Sept. 13 and 14 in Kansas City, Mo., he said. The committee will then interview those candidates, he said, and select three to five finalists.

Hansen spent 16 years on the NCAA staff before becoming Pac-10 commissioner in 1983.

Cedric Dempsey, athletic director at the University of Arizona, and Andy Geiger, formerly athletic director at Stanford and currently at the University of Maryland, are also believed to be serious candidates for the job.

Schultz resigned May 11, hours after the NCAA made public a report concluding that he had knowledge of improper loans to athletes at the University of Virginia during his time as athletic director at the school.

Hansen said he provided the search committee with his resume in June after having been recommended for the position.

He said the letter Monday indicated that the committee had scheduled a meeting for the middle of September, but did not spell out the panel’s plans beyond that point.

“Obviously, it’s the pinnacle position in my profession,” he said. “A lot of people suggested I (seek the job). And, at the same time, I saw a lot of announcements by people (associated with college athletics) who weren’t interested in doing it.

“There was a chance that a nontraditional candidate might get the job through default. I decided I would be a candidate because I didn’t want to see that happen.”

During his years with the NCAA, Hansen handled a variety of duties, including negotiating television contracts.

As Pac-10 commissioner, he has become a visible part of the national college athletic scene, serving recently on the NCAA committee on gender equity.