Big East school presidents have "ruled out" former Big East Associate Commissioner and current NCAA VP/Men's Basketball Tournament Dan Gavitt and West Coast Conference Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich as candidates for the newly-formed conference's commissioner vacancy, and are "focusing on the NBA or Major League Baseball as the primary talent pool," according to sources cited by Mark Blaudschun of AJERSEYGUY.com. With an announcement expected "in the next few days, the Big East hopes to have its leadership team in place by the start of its spring meetings next week" (AJERSEYGUY.com, 5/6). ESPN.com's Andy Katz cited sources as saying that neither Gavitt nor Zaninovich "has shown signs that his selection as the next commissioner of the new Big East is imminent." If it is not Gavitt or Zaninovich, it "could be someone from outside the league." That list "could include" MLB Exec VP/Business Tim Brosnan. Someone like Brosnan would "make sense considering that the new Big East has partnered with Fox, which has a strong relationship with MLB." A few administrators would "prefer a strong person in the NCAA membership who has already been a commissioner." But the new Big East presidents are "looking for someone with strong television connections" (ESPN.com, 5/8). In Providence, Kevin McNamara notes the 10 Big East schools are "awaiting guidance from their athletic directors on scheduling issues for next season, but without a commissioner or an office staff, major decisions are on hold." Fox Sports 1 officials are "doing preliminary work on a schedule and there are rumblings of a major Big East kickoff that would be matched against ESPN’s long line of college football bowl games" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 5/9).
