Illini AD Josh Whitman Still Believes Programs Want Governance As He Takes On New NCAA Role
University of Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman, who is also the NCAA’s Division I Council chairperson, is still promoting the idea of governance.
By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst
CHAMPAIGN — When asked if prominent power conference university athletics departments want to be governed, University of Illinois Josh Whiman needed a few seconds to pause, breath and sigh before responding.
Whitman spent several minutes during his annual roundtable discussion in June promoting the idea that some governance will be required to stabilize what can only be described as a chaotic era of collegiate athletics. However, Whitman, who has taken over as the chairperson of the NCAA’s Division I Council, wasn’t naive or unaware of the contrary recent evidence to suggest his plea for stability might be falling on deaf ears when the alternative is a more competitive present and future.
“I don’t expect enforcement to happen through the existing mechanism that we’ve all known through the last decades. So, it must be a new mechanism and a new structure needs to be put in place to try and monitor this environment,” Whitman said.
Despite numerous recent examples of power conference programs working in their best interest without regulations and perceived historical ethics being considered, Whitman is still publicly advocating for some sort of governing body to put in place that all university presidents/chancellors, athletics directors and coaches can see as a sense of fair play.
