James Edward Delany (born 1948) is the former commissioner of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

, a role in which he had served from 1989 until 2020. He is regarded among college athletics as having been influential in the creation of the

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and its maintenance.

Early life

Delany grew up in

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange is a historic suburban Village (New Jersey), village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

and attended Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in

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. He attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1970. While a student there he played for the university's

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, playing on two squads that reached the NCAA Final Four. His senior season he was co-captain of the team. He remained at North Carolina for

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

, receiving his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

( J.D.) in 1973.

Professional career

From 1973 to 1974, Delany was employed as counsel to the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Senate Judiciary Committee. From there, he was hired to the position of staff attorney for the North Carolina Justice Department. In 1975 he moved on to a position in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, working as an enforcement representative. He remained in this position for four years before moving on to the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

as its commissioner. He remained commissioner of that conference until 1989 when he was appointed commissioner of the

. Memberships and other positions held include a member of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA), a member of the College Basketball Partnership, vice president of

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA, and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States ...

Executive Committee and a member of the board of directors of the University of North Carolina General Alumni Association. On March 4, 2019, Delaney announced he was retiring. He officially stepped down on January 1, 2020.

Accomplishments as Big Ten Conference commissioner

During his tenure as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, Delany has overseen: * The creation of the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of College athletics, collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news ...

* The expansion of the conference to 11 schools with the addition of

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in 1990, and its further expansion to 14 schools with the additions of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 2011 and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

in 2014. * Guaranteed participation for Big Ten schools in seven different

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s * Development and implementation of the first college football

instant replay Instant replay or action replay is a video reproduction of something that recently occurred, both shot and broadcast live TV, live. After being shown live, the video is replayed so viewers can see it again and analyze what just happened. Spo ...

system * An increase in average Big Ten football game attendance from 58,000 per game to 72,000 per game by 2005 * Negotiations with CBS to achieve a US$6 billion 11-year contract for men's basketball NCAA tournament games

Influence

Due to his position, Delany had a significant amount of influence with regard to the

. Twenty-five percent of all U.S. households are in the geographic region covered by the Big Ten Conference. This has had major implications on his influence over college football. Delany opposed the idea of a college football playoff system, arguing that a playoff would diminish the value of regular season games.

Personal life

Delany is married to Catherine Fisher Delany, with whom he has two sons, Newman McMurray and James Chancellor.

References

External links

Big Ten Conference profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delany, James 1948 births Living people Big Ten Conference commissioners North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players People from South Orange, New Jersey St. Benedict's Preparatory School alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen