Dempsey, former NCAA president, dies at age 92

SAN DIEGO– Cedric Dempsey, the previous NCAA president who assisted turn Arizona into a national power as athletic director before leading the nationwide company through crucial years of transition and growth, died Saturday in San Diego, the NCAA stated. He was 92.

Dempsey was revered as an administrator on school. His nine-year period as the NCAA’s leader included moving its head office and considerable fiscal growth for the organization, consisting of landmark television deals worth billions.

“Ced was instrumental in forming the NCAA as it moved into the new century, overseeing a restructuring of the organization, and enhancing the structure of college sports for several years that followed his tenure,” existing NCAA president Charlie Baker stated in a declaration launched by the organization.

“His effect on the lives of student-athletes and administrators throughout the country will be felt for years to come,” Baker said.Dempsey oversaw the company’s relocation from the Kansas City residential areas to Indianapolis in 1999 and assisted reimagine how the governing body might work best in the 21st Century.His most enduring legacy may be the role he played

in producing television handle ESPN and CBS that brought in$6.2 billion over an 11-year span.Dempsey charmed his way through all of it with a smile and wit that

was admired throughout the head office and the college sports world.”Twenty-one years ago, Cedric painted a picture for me that I might one day be an athletic director, “current Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a declaration.” His assistance assisted me see a calling I never understood could be possible. I am permanently grateful for the effect he had on the trajectory of my profession and on my life as a whole. He will be deeply missed out on by our household and by everybody in the University of Arizona community. “Reed-Francois initially fulfilled Dempsey when she was acting as an associate athletic director for Compliance and as the Senior Lady Administrator at Fresno State.Dempsey’s hires in Tucson included coaches such as Lute Olson and Dick Tomey, who ended up being renowned figures for Wildcats fans.

Throughout his 11-year period, Arizona State groups won five nationwide group champions, 39 private NCAA titles and 17 Pac-10 crowns.He likewise acted as the males’s basketball choice committee chairman in 1988-89. Dempsey grew up in Equality, Illinois, and went on to play football, basketball and baseball at Albion College in Michigan. From 1959-62, he served as the males’s basketball and cross country coach at his alma mater before going back in 1963 to end up being an assistant basketball coach.In 1965, he began a 46-year profession in administration by becoming an associate athletic director also at Albion. He left there to be the athletic director at Pacific in California, before stints at San Diego State and Houston

before moving to Arizona in 1983. Dempsey left Arizona in 1994 to end up being the 6th executive director/president in NCAA history, and it existed he became a nationwide figure.”I believe the NCAA is where it is today since of Ced,” former NCAA executive committee chairman Bob Lawless stated when Dempsey announced he was retiring in January 2002.”He has been a real treasure for the NCAA.”He also acted as commissioner of the All-American Football

League from 2007-10 and fought cancer 3 times. Dempsey belongs to numerous Halls of Fame and is survived by his better half, June, and 2 children.