INDIANAPOLIS---Gene Smith, associate vice president and athletics director at The Ohio State University, has been appointed chair of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee for the 2010-11 academic year.

Smith’s term as chair will begin September 1, 2010, following formal approval by the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet. He will succeed Dan Guerrero, who will chair the committee for the 2009-10 season.

Smith has been the athletics director at Ohio State since 2005 and is in his second year as associate vice president. With 36 varsity sports and nearly 1,000 student-athletes on campus, Smith oversees one of the nation’s largest college athletic programs. Smith, who soon completes his third year on the men’s basketball committee, has a long history of service to intercollegiate athletics, having been a member of the NCAA’s Management Council, the Committee on Infractions, the Executive Committee, the Football Rules Committee, the Baseball Academic Enhancement Task Force and the President’s Commission Liaison Committee.

In addition, he is a member of the Basketball Academic Enhancement Group and has served on USA Basketball’s Finance and Audit Committee, and as president of both the Division I-A Athletics Directors Association and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

“Being a member of the men’s basketball committee is a prestigious honor that comes with incredible responsibility to our membership,” Smith said. “I have the highest possible respect for the colleagues with whom I serve. There is a high level of admiration for the way past chairs have handled keeping with the mission of this committee, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue the important work of this group.”

A native of Cleveland, Smith played football at Notre Dame, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He was a member of the 1973 national championship team and joined the coaching staff after graduation, helping the Irish to the 1977 national championship. He stayed at Notre Dame until 1981, when he went to work for IBM in a marketing position. Two years later, he returned to collegiate athletics as assistant athletics director at Eastern Michigan University. He was appointed interim AD in 1985 and then was named to the position on a full-time basis one year later.

In 1993 he was named Iowa State University’s director of athletics, a role he held until 2000, when he took the same position at Arizona State University. He remained at ASU for five years before moving on to Ohio State.

“Gene is a thoughtful leader who has tremendous dedication to intercollegiate athletics, knowledge of the game and leadership that will serve this committee well,” said Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and current chair of the committee. “He leads one of the most successful athletics departments in the country, and his leadership on campus, within the Columbus community and to the Association is extraordinary.”

-30-

DW:tw