The SWAC and commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland are on the verge of making history.
It was announced that McClelland will chair the Division I men’s basketball committee for the 2023-24 season, making him the first commissioner from an HBCU league to hold the prestigious position of presiding over the NCAA Tournament selection committee. McClelland has been at the helm of the SWAC since 2018 and prior to that served as the athletic director at Texas Southern for 10 years and served in that same capacity at Prairie View for seven years prior.
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected by my colleagues and I am very excited to continue the important work of the men’s basketball committee,” said McClelland, who earned his bachelor’s and MBA at Prairie View and received his doctoral degree in higher education from Texas A&M. “In my opinion, the NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event in the world, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure the future success of this great enterprise.”
McClelland, who has been on the committee since 2019, will be the vice chair for the upcoming season, supporting incoming chair Chris Reynolds, the director of athletics at Bradley University.
McClelland will serve on the 2022-23 committee this year with Greg Byrne, the director of athletics at Alabama; Barry Collier, the director of athletics at Butler; Mark Coyle, the director of athletics at Minnesota; Bubba Cunningham, the director of athletics at North Carolina; Keith Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference; Bernadette McGlade, the commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference; Martin Newton, the director of athletics at Samford University; Jamie Pollard, the director of athletics at Iowa State; and Tom Wistrcill; the commissioner of the Big Sky Conference.
