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Champions

Tom Jernstedt’s take on …

THE MEN’S BASKETBALL COMMITTEE:
“This is one of the biggest concerns I have. Years ago, we had Vic Bubas, Terry Holland, C.M. Newton, Dave Gavitt — administrators who were also very successful basketball coaches. Now the most successful coaches don’t transition into administration. They don’t become ADs. So, as you’re looking for committee members with a basketball background, there’s not as many of those types available.”

ONE-SEMESTER BASKETBALL:
“That’s something that was brought up to the committee by C.M. Newton, Terry Holland, Dean Smith. A lot of the coaches liked the idea and it’s been discussed quite a bit. It makes a lot of sense academically. Freshmen can come in and go to class for a semester before they start competing. People don’t pay basketball a lot of attention until football is over, so you have your two biggest revenue generators in competition. The overlap doesn’t harm football, but it does basketball.”

ON SELECTING FOUR TEAMS FOR THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF AS OPPOSED TO 68 FOR THE NCAA TOURNAMENT:
“Selecting four football teams was easy. In basketball when you come down to those last few at-large spots, that’s really difficult. The hardest thing about picking the NCAA field is looking at a seventh-place team from a big conference like the ACC or Big Ten or a second team out of a smaller conference. Making the decisions on the haves versus the have-nots is the toughest thing a committee member has to do.”

— Compiled by Michael Smith

“When we first started the NCAA’s sponsorship program, nobody called it a partnership. Today, everybody calls it a partnership. That came from Tom. He insisted on calling the NCAA’s sponsors a partner. We told companies that we wanted them to help build this brand.”
— Jim Host, founder of the NCAA’s
corporate partner program


“When the NCAA began offering women’s championships, and the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) went out of business, there were a lot of hard feelings, and everyone knew it’d take a long time to heal. Tom sensed that and really committed to doing things the right way for women. He was involved in a lot of tough decisions, but you always knew that he had done his homework.”
— Judy Sweet, former NCAA president

“Tom’s a guy who never sought the spotlight, but he had incredible relationships and trust throughout college sports. I’m like a lot of people who can probably credit Tom for helping me get a job. He put in a good word for me at CBS.”
— Mike Aresco, American Athletic Conference
commissioner and a former CBS executive


“Tom’s a treasure. For over three decades, he was one of the prime people who advanced the game of basketball. He’s innovative and he added class to everything he did. College basketball has not had a better friend than Tom Jernstedt.”
— Mike Krzyzewski, Duke coach

“I don’t think there’s ever been one person who was so influential with a major sporting event. No one else could have been a better steward for the tournament. You talk to coaches, you talk to administrators, you talk to any stakeholder, and they’ll all say how influential Tom has been.”
— Craig Littlepage, Virginia AD and a former basketball
committee member and chairman

“Tom wanted to ensure a fairness in the Final Four, and to do that you had to have a scalable model that focused on the games. The hosts had to be more about the city and less about the arms race.”
— Greg Shaheen, former NCAA executive

“Tom brought a great deal of relevant experience from the men’s basketball selection process to our group. He is so informed, so prepared and such an insightful committee member.”
— Dan Radakovich, Clemson AD, on Jernstedt’s presence
on the CFP selection committee

— Compiled by Michael Smith

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