Post by dehayes35 on Jun 5, 2008 10:35:02 GMT -5
Mike Tranghese, who has steered the Big East Conference through its various transformations, has decided to retire at the end of the 2008-09 collegiate season, according to the Boston Globe.
An official announcement is expected later Thursday.
Tranghese, who has been with the Big East since the conference's inception in 1979, has served as its commissioner since 1990. He decided to announce his June 2009 retirement now so the league could have enough time to search for his replacement, according to the Globe.
"It was just the right time for me,'' Tranghese told the Globe. "The league has never been stronger in basketball. Everyone seems happy.''
The Big East, which started out as a seven-team basketball league, has swelled into a 16-team league, and Tranghese oversees 23 intercollegiate sports. He pushed for the start of the Big East football conference, which at one point lost three key programs -- Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech -- but managed to recover by recruiting South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati as replacements.
Tranghese's legacy will include his part in the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, when he and six other major-conference commissioners devised a system so the top two ranked football teams would play for the national championship.
An official announcement is expected later Thursday.
Tranghese, who has been with the Big East since the conference's inception in 1979, has served as its commissioner since 1990. He decided to announce his June 2009 retirement now so the league could have enough time to search for his replacement, according to the Globe.
"It was just the right time for me,'' Tranghese told the Globe. "The league has never been stronger in basketball. Everyone seems happy.''
The Big East, which started out as a seven-team basketball league, has swelled into a 16-team league, and Tranghese oversees 23 intercollegiate sports. He pushed for the start of the Big East football conference, which at one point lost three key programs -- Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech -- but managed to recover by recruiting South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati as replacements.
Tranghese's legacy will include his part in the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, when he and six other major-conference commissioners devised a system so the top two ranked football teams would play for the national championship.
