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#10: The Arizona Daily Star’s Greg Hansen writes on Arizona AD Desiree Reed-Francois’ first year leading the Wildcats: “The ever-aggressive Reed-Francois has established a 24/7, day-to-day pace that few in the industry could match, and frankly, one that Arizona desperately needed. In the last month, she attended 19 of the 22 stops on the ‘Bear Down Takeover,’ tour — from Douglas and Nogales to Scottsdale and Los Angeles — as well as spending time in Washington D.C. in her role as one of the 10 members of the newly formed NCAA ‘transition team,’ whose primary responsibility is to create a system for managing and enforcing the compensation of student-athletes in Division I sports. She goes to lunch with five student-athletes per month, hoping to get to know what the athletic department can do to make their experience more productive. She established an Assistant Coaches Academy for about 40 assistant coaches, helping to prepare them to be head coaches. She had a job fair for student-athletes at which about 50 Tucson firms were represented.” Reed-Francois also tells Hansen that the new Arizona Sports Enterprises is at 108% of projected income & that the Wildcats are good to go on the $20M+ needed to fund full revenue sharing. (link)

#9: Western Carolina promotes Deputy AD/COO Kyle Pifer to be the Catamounts’ next AD. Chancellor Kelli Brown: “Mr. Kyle Pifer is an outstanding choice to lead Catamount Nation into its next era. In the short amount of time that Kyle has served as interim AD, he has distinguished himself as a collaborative and strategic university leader with a commanding grasp of the landscape of intercollegiate athletics. Catamount Athletics is in good hands with Kyle at the helm, and I am confident and excited about the future for our amazing student-athletes.” Collegiate Sports Associates assisted with the search. (link)

#8: More from Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard’s interview on The Rush Radio Show. Does Pollard ever ask himself if he, at 60 years old, still wants to keep doing this? “Every day. … One minute I’m feeling that and then the other minute I get something that reminds me that 90% of our student-athletes, this doesn’t even matter to them.” Why are publicly traded companies exempt from the Deloitte clearinghouse? “I don’t know. The four commissioners are the ones brokering this deal. I’ve been on so many calls…just get me to the end and tell me what it’s going to be, and they keep saying it’s going to be this, but I'll believe it when I see it because we’ve shown absolutely no history – absolutely no history – of policing ourselves.” (link)

#7: St. Thomas names Minnesota Deputy AD/SWA Julie Manning as Senior Assoc. AD/SWA. (link)

#6: Rutgers has selected LSU President William F. Tate IV as its next president, effective July 1. (link)

#5: Hawaii President Wendy Hensel says the school has received a “robust” pool of applicants for its AD opening. Former AD Craig Angelos shares that he was informed on Thursday he would not be given an interview. (link)

#4: Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports plans for a presidential commission on college sports have been paused, “a move possibly rooted in its potential impact in Senate negotiations over college sports legislation.” Dellenger adds: “It is unclear how long the pause will extend, except to potentially give five U.S. senators, led by Ted Cruz and Cory Booker, more time to possibly reach an agreement on federal legislation. The senators have met multiple times over the last four months but hurdles remain.” (link); On3’s Pete Nakos reports Texas Tech Board of Regents Chair Cody Campbell “will continue to work behind the scenes for when the presidential commission is ready to move forward. The pause was mainly led by Sen. Ted Cruz, per source.” (link)

#3: The OU Daily reports Oklahoma is planning to lay off 5% of its athletics staff, which equates to roughly 15 positions, as a result of the changing economic landscape of the industry. Sooners AD Joe Castiglione in an email to the department: “This is the only expected reduction in force for our department. We remain steadfast in our commitment to you and to the mission that drives us: serving our student-athletes and representing the University of Oklahoma with pride and integrity.” As a result, Castiglione also plans to adjust his own compensation. (link)

#2: Have a look at Arizona’s design for a new basketball court at the McKale Center. Wildcats AD Desiree Reed-Francois: “I was here in the ‘90s and that cactus logo meant something and was unique to Tucson. … I wanted to make sure our fans’ voices were heard, and we listened to them.” (link)

#1: Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports power conferences are working on a contract for those schools opting into the House settlement “as a way to bind the group and provide stability around the enforcement of rules. That includes, most notably, decisions from the new Deloitte-run NIL clearinghouse, dubbed ‘NIL Go,’ an entity expected to more strictly enforce booster pay. The consequence for not signing the agreement is steep: a school risks the loss of conference membership and participation against other power league programs.” The “membership agreement” also exempts the new College Sports Commission from legal action by member institutions over enforcement decisions, offering a way for schools to pursue arbitration. As one AD puts it: “You have to sign it or we don’t play you.” Tulane Sports Law Professor Gabe Feldman on the latter: “Arbitration itself isn’t surprising but saying that you agree not to follow your state law … that may or may not be enforceable. No matter what the sides do, they’re going to be sued. This is an effort to rein in the lawsuits. It’s just not clear how enforceable all these provisions will be.” (link)

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