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NCAA’s Gavitt takes on challenges facing hoops

Dan Gavitt doesn’t know exactly how to respond when the media refers to him as the new czar of college basketball. When asked to list the most influential figures in the game, he starts with the coaches, not himself or any other administrators. It’s Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino and Bill Self, among others, who are driving the discussions in college basketball, he said.

But if there’s a non-coach who has a rightful place alongside those giants of the game, it’s Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president of men’s basketball. Hired in the summer of 2012, Gavitt oversees the men’s Division I, II and III championships. March Madness and the Final Four are his responsibility.

As the 48-year-old Gavitt enters his third basketball season with the NCAA, the game is threatened by a regular season whose importance has shrunk as March Madness has grown. There’s also concern that the NCAA’s new autonomy model could make it tougher for the mid-majors to compete.

Gavitt takes these matters to heart. He grew up in the game, at the foot of his father Dave, who coached at Providence and founded the Big East in 1979. Dave was one of the most influential voices in college basketball, until his death three years ago. Now, Dan’s position is thrusting him into more of a leadership role in the game. He spoke with SportsBusiness Journal’s Michael Smith about these issues and others.

■ For a guy who’s in charge of March Madness, what do you do in the fall?

GAVITT: This is actually a very busy time for us. This fall we’ve worked quite a bit on site selection as we come down the homestretch for selecting sites for the 2017-20 Final Fours. We’re also working on the 2016-18 preliminary rounds. A lot of work has been done in preparation for those decisions that will be made by the basketball committee in mid-November. There have been a lot of site visits. I also represent the NCAA on USA Basketball, the (National Association of Basketball Coaches) and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, so there’s travel associated with that as well.

■ What’s your take on the health of college basketball?

GAVITT: The popularity of the game and the game itself are very healthy. That’s not looking through rose-colored

Dan Gavitt addresses the media at a news conference for the Gavitt Tipoff Games, named in honor of his father, Dave. The early-season series of games features Big East and Big Ten teams.
Photo by: USA Today Sports
glasses. That’s from a lot of the metrics we use — last year’s attendance was robust. College basketball attendance in 10 of the last 11 years has been the highest it’s been. Some pockets of the country could use better attendance and more enthusiasm. But overall, it’s a pretty healthy environment. Ratings for the tournament are strong. We set an attendance record for last season’s Final Four (in Dallas). And the year before, we set an overall attendance record for the tournament. Those metrics are good, but we have some challenges. We began addressing some of those last year in the way the game is played and the way it’s officiated. We tried to eliminate some of the physicality in the game and that was a positive development. It helps the look and feel of the game. We still
{podcast}

SBJ Podcast:
College writer Michael Smith and Assistant Managing Editor Tom Stinson on how autonomy could affect college basketball-focused schools and conferences as well as the business metrics behind college basketball.

have challenges on the one-and-done issue, or the transfer issue, things of that nature.

■ The one-and-done rule is up to the NBA and the players association. What role can the NCAA play?

GAVITT: The folks I deal with regularly — the coaches, athletic directors, commissioners — all talk about trying to make the experience of the student athletes increasingly more positive and how to help them make the best decisions they can for themselves, individually, personally, academically and professionally. I think there’s hope we can impact that area with some changes we can control. Now that the governance structure has changed and some areas like cost of attendance, insurance, are addressed, we’ll have a greater opportunity to help student athletes make the best decisions for themselves.

■ What is the chief challenge with the regular season?

GAVITT: The data tells one story, but we’re certainly aware of the challenges, in large part because of the popularity of football, both college and the NFL. There’s a feeling that not enough attention is given to basketball until those seasons are done. Folks don’t start turning their full attention to basketball until January, February, in some cases March.

■ Could we see basketball become a one-semester sport that would begin in mid-December and finish later in April or early May?

GAVITT: There has been a lot of talk within the men’s basketball committee about the one-semester concept. It could have potential, but there are significant challenges to that. The committee took a very hard look at that a year ago. One of the major challenges, the way the tournament is now, if you pushed it back later in the year, you would have issues with TV windows going against the NBA playoffs. Perhaps more importantly is the availability of those buildings. The playoffs start about six weeks after the end of the tournament now. The number of NBA facilities we use for the tournament now is pretty significant. It’s over 50 percent. It’s hard to imagine those NBA or NHL facilities holding dates for us during playoff seasons.

■ There seem to be more and more neutral-site games in November and December. Are those games healthy, or should schools be playing those games in their own buildings?

GAVITT: The neutral-site games benefit the sport significantly. I think about the regular season in blocks. You’ve got the start of the season on Nov. 14. You’ve got some of those conference challenges, like the Big Ten-ACC, early in the season. You’ve got those multi-team events that provide so many great matchups. I think there is some frustration that during that Thanksgiving time period you’ve got so many great events on neutral sites. A lot of those go up against college football or the NFL, and people don’t see them when Duke and Louisville are playing in Atlantis, for example.

Those games for the college basketball fan are huge, and they’re important for the committee.

■ What sort of self-evaluation does the men’s basketball committee do on the Final Four?

GAVITT: The committee every year analyzes the tournament, the selection process, and asks, “Are we doing things the best way?” This past summer, the committee looked at all levels of detail, all the way down to the recusal policy during team selections. Are votes tabulated the right way? Should we look at total votes versus percentage?

■ What about the ancillary events, like the fan fest in Bracket Town or the weekend concerts?

GAVITT: Those events are tweaked every year, based on locations. In (Dallas), we had the Tipoff Tailgate at the stadium as a way to get people out to Arlington and get them into the building earlier, hoping that might help with traffic. We won’t be doing that at Indianapolis. Each city and each venue presents its own set of challenges. We’re already looking ahead to Houston to determine the best place to have Bracket Town.

■ The minimum capacity for a Final Four venue is currently 60,000. Any chance that will change?

GAVITT: Last summer, the committee did take a good, healthy look at whether the Final Four, for an anniversary or a special occasion, could be played in an arena (instead of a football stadium). Ultimately, they decided the ticket allocations were just too difficult. The team blocks, for example, would go from nearly 4,000 to a little under 1,000 for each team. There probably would be no general sale. The NABC block would be significantly reduced. The commissioner and AD blocks would be reduced. CBS, Turner, reduced. The numbers just wouldn’t work.

Did football-driven conference realignment damage basketball?

GAVITT: Many of those moves were motivated by football, but it’s created opportunities as well. Conference changes have always been part of the game. We just had a number of changes in a short period of time. But what it’s done is expand markets, expand recruiting areas, expand fan bases. Look at the Syracuse-Duke games. Some great rivalries went by the board, but new ones are being born.

■ Are there concerns that NCAA autonomy might hinder the schools outside of the power five conferences in basketball?

GAVITT: I hope not. The great thing about college basketball is how broad it is: Wichita State, Gonzaga, VCU, San Diego State, Villanova. There are all sorts of opportunities. … I don’t think in terms of five conferences. I think of it as a whole, 32 conferences, coast-to-coast, big land-grant schools and small Catholic universities. That’s what makes college basketball so special and makes March Madness so magical. … Frankly, I think they’ll be competitive and continue to have a special place in the game. There’s enough great coaching and great players to go around. It’ll be driven by who the best is, not who the richest is. That’s what makes the game special. I am very bullish on college basketball’s future.

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