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The Southeastern Conference named its replacement for departing commissioner Mike Slive.
Greg Sankey, who has served as the SEC’s Executive Associate Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer since 2012, will take over for Slive when he retires on July 31 of this year. The decision to hand the reins to Sankey was finalized Thursday by the presidents and chancellors of the SEC and announced via a media release from SEC spokesman Herb Vincent.
“The universities of the SEC represent the greatest combination of academic and athletic excellence and I am honored to be selected to follow Mike Slive as commissioner of the Southeastern Conference,” Sankey said in the release. “The SEC is poised to make a difference in the lives of student-athletes for generations to come. We must ensure that the lessons they learn from their achievements in competition and in the classroom translate into success in life after college.”
Vanderbilt University chancellor Nick Zeppos will formally announce Sankey as the SEC’s next commissioner at a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. ET Friday morning from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, site of the ongoing SEC men’s basketball tournament.
Sankey has played a vital role in the SEC’s initiative to reshape the conference’s governance and compliance program, and he’s well-integrated into the NCAA committee structure, including membership on the Division I legislative council. He also serves as the chairman of the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
He was originally hired by the SEC when Slive first took over as commissioner in 2002 for the purposes of curing the conference’s compliance issues. At the time he was hired, nine SEC programs (among the 12 in the conference at the time) were under some sort of investigation.
As of Thursday, only three are under investigation, and Sankey claims those are isolated incidents and not an indication of compliance issues at those schools.
Sankey also played a major role in helping the NCAA’s five power conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC — gain legislative autonomy on certain issues, a major move in the balance of power in college athletics.
“Anytime we’re in a meeting and the agenda comes up with NCAA issues whether it’s legislation or autonomy discussions, it’s the Greg Sankey show,” Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin told the Associated Press. “He’s the guy that walks us through things that a lot of times can be a lot of minutiae.”
The SEC’s head-man-in-waiting has previous experience as the former commissioner of the Southland Conference for seven years beginning in 1996.
Sankey was selected by a committee of SEC presidents and chancellors, headed by University of Arkansas chancellor Dr. David Gearhart. The other members of the committee included University of Alabama president Dr. Judy Bonner, University of Kentucky president Dr. Eli Capilouto, Mississippi State University president Dr. Mark Keenum and University of Missouri chancellor Dr. Bowen Loftin.
Slive first announced he would retire this summer in a news release published last October.
Sankey’s tenure as commissioner will officially begin on August 1.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
