NCAA President Mark Emmert said it "would be inaccurate" to call the organization's hire of West Virginia AD Oliver Luck as NCAA Exec VP/Regulatory Affairs "a succession plan," according to Gregg Doyel of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Emmert: "When the board was making the hire that ended up being me, they were pretty adamant that they hire another university president. The decision about who is going to be next in the presidency, and I hope it's me for a long time, is strictly up to the board." He added, "I've got a contract through 2017. ... I want to keep doing this job as long as it makes sense for me and the association. Nobody should hear this as, 'Emmert's looking for retirement plans.'" Luck said the thought of succeeding Emmert "truly never crossed my mind." Doyel writes hiring Luck means that the NCAA "isn't fooling around," as he "is the home-run hire everyone has taken a swing at in recent years." Luck "operates from a location of complete credibility." The NCAA pursued Luck "at a time when the popularity of college sports is at an all-time high, and the popularity of the organization running it is at an all-time low." Luck said, "This opportunity comes at a challenging time for the NCAA, with the federal court decisions (that college athletes are employees who can sell their likenesses), and with the opportunity to work with dedicated people I know from working with previously, I'm silly enough to think I can make a positive difference. And that's something that's very attractive." Doyel: "The NCAA is on the wrong side of the amateurism debate and therefore the wrong side of history, and it's going to take someone like Oliver Luck -- popular, powerful, persuasive -- to drag the NCAA onto the right side" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 12/31).
