Meet the Men’s NCAA Tournament Selection Committee
The 10-member NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Committee is responsible for selecting and seeding the NCAA Tournament field every year. Committee members serve five-year terms, with between one and three old members rotating out and the same number rotating in every year. The Committee is balanced geographically, with no fewer than two members representing the East, Midwest, South, and West regions at any one time.
Committee Members
Eugene Smith (2010-2011 Chair)
Big Ten Conference
Term Expires September 2011
Eugene "Gene" Smith took over the Ohio State mantle from Andy Geiger in March of 2005, coming to the Buckeyes after stints as the AD at Arizona State, Iowa State, and Eastern Michigan. A Cleveland, Ohio, native, Smith attended Notre Dame and won a national championship as a defensive end on the Fighting Irish Football team. He also served as an assistant coach on the Irish's 1977 championship team.
Smith and former Committee member Craig Littlepage have both been named as two of the "50 most powerful African-Americans in sports."
Contact Information »
Stanley M. Morrison
Big West Conference
Term Expires September 2011
Stanley Morrison played center for the University of California's 1959 National Championship and 1960 Runner-Up teams, and returned to college basketball soon after, coaching the Pacific Tigers from 1972-1979, the USC Trojans from 1979-1986, and the San Jose State Spartans from 1989-1998. He also served as the Athletic Director at UC-Santa Barbara from 1986-1989. He began his current appointment at UC-Riverside in 1999, guiding the school through its transition into Division I. Morrison serves on the Board of Directors of a number of Southern California charities.
Contact Information »
Jeffrey A. Hathaway
Big East Conference
Term Expires September 2012
After serving as an Associate AD from 1990 - 2001, Jeffrey Hathaway was named UConn's Athletics Director in June of 2003. In the intervening stretch, he served as the AD at Colorado State. Hathaway was responsible for securing long-term contract extensions for Jim Calhoun, Geno Auriemma and football coach Randy Edsall in 2004-05. Many observers credit him as a key player in UConn football's impressive rise to national awareness.
The Sporting News named Hathaway to its “Power 100 List” in 2004, and has chaired a number of Big East Committees prior to his selection to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. He is a Maryland native, attended the University of Maryland, and served in a number of administrative roles within the Terps' Athletics Department before moving onto UConn.
Contact Information »
Lynn Hickey
Southland Conference
Term Expires September 2012
Lynn Hickey is only the second woman ever to serve on the Men's Selection Committee (UNC-Charlotte AD Judy Rose was the first, from 1999-2003). She's a true asset to the Committee, having been an All-American at Ouachita Baptist University and a member of the US National Team in 1973. She also served as the head women's basketball coach at Kansas State (where she was elected as a member of the Athletics Hall of Fame) and Texas A&M, amassing a career record of 279-167 in 15 years of coaching. After leading the Aggies to a Sweet 16 appearance in 1994, Hickey was promoted to Associate AD in College Station.
Hickey has been instrumental in securing an incredible number of NCAA Championship events for UTSA (13 in all from 1999 - 2010), including the 2006 Women’s South Regional, the 2007 Men’s South Regional, the 2008 Men’s Final Four, and the 2010 Women’s Final Four. She served as President of the Southland Conference from 2002-04 was named the 2006 West Region Athletics Director of the Year by NACDA.
Contact Information »
Mike Bobinski
Xavier University
Term Expires September 2013
Mike Bobinski is in his second stint as Xavier's Athletics Director. His first run came from 1998-2004, after which he moved to the university's fundraising & development office for two years. He served as AD at the University of Akron and Associate AD at Navy prior to coming to Xavier. He graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame in 1979, playing four years of baseball for the Irish. After graduation he moved into the business world for four years, working for Deloitte and the Walt Disney Company as a CPA.
Mike's daughter Melissa attends Xavier and his son Brian goes to Ohio State.
Contact Information »
Dan Beebe
Big 12 Conference
Term Expires September 2014
Though he's only served as Big 12 Commissioner since 2007, Dan Beebe has already developed an impressive resume. He served on the BCS' television negotiations committee with ESPN and in addition to the Selection Committee, Beebe was also named to the Executive Committee of NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors).
Earlier in his career, Beebe served as the Commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference for 14 years. He's a native of Walla Walla, Washington and received his undergraduate degree from Cal Poly-Pomona and a law degree from UC-Hastings. He and his wife Molly have two daughters and two sons.
Contact Information »
Doug Fullerton
Big Sky Conference
Term Expires September 2014
Doug Fullerton assumed the Commissioner's role of the Big Sky Conference in 1995, moving up from the AD position at conference member Montana State, where he'd been for 11 years. He also served as an assistant basketball coach for the Bobcats during his time in Bozeman.
Fullerton is widely regarded as one of the most powerful commissioners in the FCS subdivision and led the creation of BigSkyTV to stream all major conference sporting events over the Internet. He's a lifelong Montanan, with an undergraduate degree from California Western and a master's from Montana State. He and his wife Cari have one daughter, Amanda.
Contact Information »
Ron Wellman
Wake Forest University
Term Expires September 2014
Ron Wellman has served as Wake Forest's AD since 1992, making him the longest-tenured director in the ACC. Prior to his nomination to the Basketball Selection Committee in 2009, Wellman served on the NCAA's Division I Management Council and the Baseball Committee.
He was named AD of the Year in 2008 by both Street and Smith's and the NACDA-Southeast (National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors).
Wellman graduated from Bowling Green, where he played baseball, and coached baseball at Northwestern. His wife Linda, and daughters Nicole and Melissa, all attended Wake Forest. Wellman's daughter Angie is also married to a Wake alum.
Contact Information »
Steve Orsini
SMU
Term Expires September 2015
Steve Orsini became the AD at SMU in June of 2006. He's been instrumental in reinvigorating SMU's basketball and football programs, hiring Matt Doherty and June Jones as coaches. SMU has built a brand new practice facility for its hoops teams, a new tennis stadium, and has renovated historic Moody Coliseum over the last five years. Maintaining its commitment to academics, SMU's athletes graduate at a remarkable 96% rate.
Orsini previously served as AD at UCF, and has also worked at Georgia Tech, Navy, and for the Dallas Cowboys. He graduated from Notre Dame, is married to a South Bend native, and has a daughter.
Contact Information »
Scott Barnes
Utah State University
Term Expires September 2015
Barnes has served as USU AD since April 2008. An ardent supporter of Aggie athletics, he initiated a new student fee policy that generates over $2.1 million every year for the department.
Barnes came to Utah State from the University of Washington, Eastern Washington, San Diego, Pacific University, and Iowa State. He was recognized as the NACDA West Region AD of the year in his position at Eastern Washington.
Barnes hails from Spokane, is married, and has two children.
Contact Information »