Univ. of Kentucky President Lee Todd Jr. and Board of Trustees Chair Britt Brockman yesterday said that the school "will establish a committee to examine the oversight of the athletics department," according to Cheryl Truman of the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. Brockman said that he "hopes the committee will provide a clear idea of how UK compares in athletics oversight among benchmark schools" in the SEC and ACC. Brockman said that he "will appoint a committee of six or seven members." Todd's office is "gathering data on athletics oversight at other SEC schools." Committee members "will prepare a report on oversight at other schools," and Brockman said that SEC Commissioner Mike Slive "may be invited to provide input on athletics oversight." The idea for a committee to oversee UK athletics is "apparently a new one for the university," but "other states already have athletics oversight in place." Truman notes the news of the oversight committee comes "just two weeks after Todd announced that he had extended the contract" of AD Mitch Barnhart until '19 and "given him a raise of $125,000 -- to $600,000 -- on his annual base salary." Several trustees last week said that they "should have been consulted before Todd's decision on Barnhart's contract." Todd will retire from his position in June, which "means the incoming president will have an athletics director selected by Todd in place for eight years" (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, 2/23). Todd yesterday told the UK Board of Trustees that he "could have done a better job with how he handled his decision to extend" Barnhart's contract. Todd: "I could have handled those timing issues much better." Todd said that Barnhart "has done an 'outstanding job' for the university, which is why he extended his contract" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/23).
