The Big Ten will officially announce and introduce its next commissioner on Tuesday. In a brief memo sent out to the media Monday evening, the Big Ten confirmed it will name its sixth commissioner in conference history at an event in Rosemont, Illinois on Tuesday, June 4.
Current Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany announced in March he would be stepping down from his position in 2020. Delany’s contract expires on June 30, 2020, giving him one full final year on the job before his to=be-named successor takes over the job. Delany has been the commissioner of the Big Ten since 1989 and he has guided the conference through multiple expansions, first with Penn State early in his tenure, and later with Nebraska in 2011 and Rutgers and Maryland in 2014. Delany has also overseen the launch of the Big Ten Network and has guided the conference to being one of the two most profitable conferences in collegiate athletics.
Simply put, Delany is leaving some pretty big shoes to fill for the job. And within the next 24 hours, we will finally know who will be attempting to fill them moving forward.
Following Delany’s retirement announcement, the Big Ten organized a search committee led by Northwestern president Morton Schapiro. It had been suggested before that Northwestern AD Jim Phillips was among the favorites to land the job of commissioner.