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SEC expected to name new commissioner today
BIRMINGHAM, AL (AP) � The Southeastern Conference plans to name a new
commissioner today to succeed Roy Kramer, with Conference USA
Commissioner Mike Slive reportedly the choice to direct the 12-school
league.
Newspaper reports Sunday said Slive, 61, was offered the job over the
weekend as the 72-year-old Kramer was honored at a farewell dinner in
Atlanta on Saturday night.
SEC officials said Monday that a news conference will be held at
league headquarters in Birmingham at Noon EST Tuesday to announce a
new commissioner.
Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom said Monday he could not confirm
that Slive was the choice of the 12 university presidents or
chancellors who must approve a new commissioner. The head of the
search committee, Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat, also declined
to confirm Slive's selection.
But reports in The Birmingham News, the Jacksonville (Fla.)
Times-Union and other newspapers said Slive was the choice.
"The SEC is a great conference, and Roy Kramer has been a great
commissioner. But I'm telling you, they won't miss a beat with Mike
Slive," East Carolina athletic director Mike Hambrick told the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution for Monday's editions.
"No matter what the situation, Mike will always have a plan and he
will always be several steps ahead of everybody else in the room,"
Hambrick said. Slive could not be reached for comment on the reports.
Slive is head of the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee and his former
law firm defended schools in NCAA probes. Two SEC football programs,
Alabama and Kentucky, are on probation and three others face sanctions
pending the outcome of investigations.
The SEC commissioner selection committee was composed of six SEC
presidents, while seven athletic directors were on the advisory
committee.
Slive has been Conference USA commissioner since the league's
inception in 1995.
A former judge in New Hampshire, Slive is also chairman of the NCAA
Football USA Board of Directors and the National Letters of Intent
Appeals Committee.
Other finalists for the job included SEC executive associate
commissioner Mark Womack, Ohio Valley Conference commissioner Dan
Beebe and former Vanderbilt assistant athletic director Rick George.
Copyright 2002
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:49 AM -----
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