NCAA president Charlie Baker stopped by the media workroom at Amalie Arena and fielded questions from reporters ahead of Friday’s Final Four games. The topics were wide-ranging, covering everything from the decision to schedule double-regionals to his thoughts on the NCAA’s new transgender athlete policy.
The conversation started with whether the planning committee had considered combining the men’s and women’s tournaments at a single location.
“They’re booked both of them for at least the next three years, so anything that would happen with that would probably would probably be pretty far down the road, but it’s not something they don’t discuss,” Baker said. “I think there are two big issues with it, the biggest one’s just finding a place that would be able to make that whole thing work, because logistically, it would be challenging, but they do talk about it.”
He was also asked about the decision to host double-regionals in Spokane, Wash., and Birmingham, Ala. The format, which was introduced 2023, has recently drawn criticism from coaches like UConn’s Geno Auriemma, LSU’s Kim Mulkey and Texas’ Vic Schaefer.
“The main reason the women’s basketball committee went to the two sites was to fill the stands and create a better experience for the kids and to drive attendance, and they accomplished both of those objectives,” Baker said. “I think the committee talks about this issue on a pretty regular basis which is the reason they made the decision to go to the two sites in the first place. I’m sure it’ll be one of the things they talk about.”
Moving on to the transfer portal, Baker was asked specifically about the timing, which opened on March 25.
“So, the transfer portal this year started a week later than it did last year, for exactly the reason that people were concerned about when it started, and by starting it when it started this year, 91% of the teams were done playing,” Baker said. “The student athletes themselves were concerned about moving it back much beyond where we moved it to by moving it back a week, because they have concerns about spring semester and, you know, getting teed up for whatever it is they’re going to be next year. But there’s no question that it creates a lot of traffic.”
Baker was also asked about the upcoming House v. NCAA ruling about revenue sharing in college basketball.
“Right now, we have absolutely no idea how much money is actually being spent on NIL,” Baker said. “We have anecdotes. We have representations, although, having talked to enough kids, I don’t necessarily believe a lot of the information that’s out there with so-called representation about what’s going on. And one thing we will get, if the settlement goes into effect, is a structured process for both third-party NIL and institutional NIL, which will add up to something which will be a total accumulation of all of the deals that are done, and will make it possible for people, for the first time, to actually know what’s really going on.
“And the second big thing about it is it creates a process that’s far more accountable on both a process and. A transparency basis than what we have now, and I happen to think those are really good things for student athletes, but I think we’re not going to know until this thing actually goes into effect, when we get a year’s worth of data. At that point, we will really know where the data goes, where it goes now, is it anybody’s guess.”
In another policy question, Baker was asked about the NCAA’s stance on transgender athletes and determining eligibility.
“Well, the NCAA policy on this is pretty simple, it’s birth certificates, and we treat this the same way we treat every other eligibility issue, which is it’s on the schools to make sure that the kids who go to their schools, who participate in our tournaments are eligible to participate,” Baker said. “If there’s an issue or concern that’s raised by someone who’s competing against the school or somebody who knows something. They notify us, we reach out to the school if we don’t get a satisfactory answer from them, we do an investigation, but we treat this issue exactly the same way we treat every other eligibility issue, whether it’s sports betting, academics or with us, and that seems to work pretty well historically.”
After a clarifying question about whether the policy changed to align with the current administration, he said:
“No, I said all along that I wanted clarity on this issue, and between the memo that was issued by the DOE and the executive order, we have clarity from the federal government on this, and the policy is sex assigned at birth.”
Baker also briefly addressed sports betting and specifically eliminating player-focused prop bets, sharing his concerns about unders and their effects on athlete mental health as they lead to additional pressure on statistical performance and social media harassment.
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Texas’ Rori Harmon holds off on decision to go pro
Reflecting on her time with Texas after the Longhorns’ Final Four loss to South Carolina, senior guard Rori Harmon told reporters that she has not made her decision yet on whether to stay or leave for the professional ranks.
“I had to really think about what was important in the moment, and that was what these people around me deserve and it’s my full attention, 100% effort,” Harmon said. “But, yeah, family decision. Family things to talk about. I gotta really, you know, hone in on that. But that’s not anything I want to tell the public right now.”
Harmon, who missed the majority of the 2023-24 season after tearing her ACL, returned to lead the team in assists again. She also led the team in steals and ranked third in points per game. Harmon ranks second all-time in the program for assists with 731, trailing just Kamie Etheridge.
Texas is set to lose guard Shay Holle, and forwards Aaliyah Moore and Taylor Jones. Harmon is a senior, but she was granted a medical hardship waiver last August and would be able to use a redshirt season in 2025-26.
Cori Close reflects on UCLA legacy
Although this is UCLA’s first NCAA Final Four, it is not the program’s first trip to the semifinals. In 1978, UCLA advanced to the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) semifinals and won the tournament for the Bruins’ lone title.
Hall of Famer Ann Meyers, UCLA’s all-time leading scorer Denise Curry, and guard Anita Ortega led that team to victory against Maryland in the first nationally televised women’s championship game. The new tournament structure was designed in part by UCLA women’s athletic director Judith Holland, whose work helped to establish the modern Final Four.
“You could be jealous, or you could be like, ‘Oh, those guys, they don’t know how good they have it,’ but they haven’t been, I mean, there’s half of that team that were there in the stands tonight,” Close said. “I was walking out of the hotel, and the amount of alumni that made the trip there, that were, you know, cheering us on and sent us a video today. And I think that we don’t do that alone and so, but I think our culture is built on doing something bigger together than you could do on your own.”
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Holle leaves Longhorns as program’s all-time winningest player
After five years and 171 games, Texas guard Shay Holle leaves as Texas’ all-time winningest player in either the women’s or men’s programs with 144 victories in burnt orange.
“It’s been such a blessing being on this team, like that’s the best word for it,” Holle said. “Not only are they obviously incredible basketball players, but just all of them are such good people and such good friends to me, and they’ll always do that, and I’ll always be there for them.”
Holle arrived at Texas for coach Vic Shaefer’s first season and appeared in 23 games, but did not start. By her sophomore campaign, she was a more consistent presence, doubling her minutes per game and more than tripling her points per game with 3.7. She averaged 6.2 points across 39 games her senior year, helping to lead the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in four of her five seasons. This was the team’s first Final Four trip since 2002-03.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better last year, going to the Final Four with Coach Schaefer and this group, and just seeing like the work that we put in every single day and just the program that he’s built since five years ago. It’s crazy to look back on, definitely a weird feeling today, but yeah, just a blessing overall.”
Schaefer, who had just completed his 40th season in coaching and 20th as a head coach, was emotional when talking about his senior guard.
“It’s going to be hard, you know, it’s going to be hard walking in the gym and not seeing her,” Schaefer told reporters. “She’s special. And you know other people recognize it.”
*Special thanks to Breakaway’s Mitchell Northam for his reporting contributions.
