NCAA President Brand Left His Mark

Collegiate Athletics lost a staunch advocate when NCAA President Myles Brand lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Wednesday.

President Brand brought a unique perspective to the position as he became the first university president to serve in the roll of NCAA president. This after college athletic directors had served in that capacity in recent years.

I remember the first year Myles became president, not too long after the firing of Bobby Knight at Indiana; he summoned numerous college administrators to Dallas, Texas to work on the “Strategic Plan” that would guide the NCAA into the future.

I had the privilege of being asked to attend those meetings and you knew from day one that ACADEMICS were going to become his focus. Literally every time a suggestion or idea came forward he would ask, “How will these ideas help move forward academic performance?”

Myles always took the time to address your concerns and you may not have liked the answer but you always got one. He brought a different global perspective to the Association and it came at a time when we needed that difference.

A phrase we use to describe Northern Arizona University is “the difference that matters”. Myles Brand was “the difference that mattered” in the leadership of the NCAA and he was able to bring what matters the most to the forefront of the Association’s Agenda.

He said that the academic performance of our student-athletes will become the central focus of the Association and he did that.

Myles Brand may not have come to the Presidency of the Association in the traditional athletic way but make no mistake he became the classic athlete.

As he took on a formidable foe, cancer, he fought it tooth and nail just like you expect any true competitor to do.

He may have been over matched physically, by this demon, but he was class from beginning to end and he never gave up! He is gone in body but his spirit will live on.

Now the rest of us owe it to him and ourselves to keep that vision moving forward, that vision he so strongly believed in.

Thank you Myles, you and your leadership will be missed.

Jim Fallis, Northern Arizona University Athletics Director