NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference will gather industry leaders to discuss the future of college basketball on Monday, Oct. 20, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Empire State Building prior to BIG EAST Basketball Media Day on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Commissioner Val Ackerman announced.
 
The five-panel event - to be held at the soon-to-be new home of the BIG EAST Conference - will focus on key topics relating to college basketball, beginning with a one-on-one conversation with NCAA President Charlie Baker.  Throughout the afternoon, the roundtable event will include perspectives from BIG EAST and NCAA administrators, former coaches, media members, sports law experts and sports business executives. 
 
"The BIG EAST Conference has long been synonymous with excellence and national prominence in college basketball, and we are deeply committed to advancing the dialogue around our evolving operating environment and the implications for basketball programs around the country,” said Ackerman. “As we prepare to host BIG EAST Media Day at Madison Square Garden, the addition of our Roundtable event offers a timely and meaningful opportunity to convene some of the most influential leaders in the industry to help shape the ongoing national conversations around the future of the sport.”
 
The second panel will discuss the current climate on campus with a conversation with St. John’s University President Fr. Brian J. Shanley, UConn Director of Athletics, David Benedict, Executive Director, National Association of Basketball Coaches, Craig Robinson, and Special Assistant to the President, Villanova University, Jay Wright.  The panel will be moderated by Dana O’Neil and will cover topics relating to the ever-changing NCAA landscape and the impacts on student-athletes, coaches, and athletic departments.
 
The third panel will focus on the business of college athletics. Jordan Bazant, Executive Vice President of FOX Sports, together with Joel Fisher, Executive Vice President of Marquee Events and Operations at Madison Square Garden, and Will Crall, President of On3 Sports, will be joined by moderator Ben Portnoy of Sports Business Journal to discuss the financial evolution for college basketball from three distinctive viewpoints - network television, facilities, and the media.
 
The fourth discussion will center around funding college athletics. Panelists will include Michael Schreiber, Founder and Executive Chairman of Playfly Sports, Jonathan Marks, Chief Business Officer at Elevate College and Global Marketplace, and Ted Oberwager, Partner at leading global investment firm, KKR.  Moderated by Joe Leccese, Partner and Co-Head Sports Group at Proskauer, this conversation will explore the considerations associated with alternate athletics funding models as schools adapt to the evolving landscape of name, image, and likeness and the introduction of the new House revenue-sharing model.

Gabe Feldman, Associate Professor and Director of Sports Law at Tulane University, and Dawn Buth, Managing Director of Government Relations at the NCAA, will be joined by moderator Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports for the final panel of the day to discuss the continuing legal and public policy challenges facing the college athletics model.
 

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BIG EAST Men’s Basketball Roundtable: The Future of College Basketball
Date: Monday, October 20
Location: Empire State Building
Time: 2-5:30 p.m. in the Empire Lounge Basketball Court

Panel 1 – Full Court Press

• A conversation with NCAA President, Charlie Baker 

Moderator:  Bonnie Bernstein, Founder/CEO, Walk Swiftly Productions
 
Panel 2 – Campus and Coaching Climate

• Reverend Brian J. Shanley O.P., President, St. John’s University
• David Benedict, Director of Athletics, University of Connecticut
• Jay Wright, Special Assistant to the President, Villanova University
• Craig Robinson, Executive Director, National Association of Basketball Coaches

Moderator: Dana O’Neil, Author, "The Big East: Inside the Most Entertaining and Influential Conference in College Basketball History"
 
Panel 3 – The Business of College Basketball

• Jordan Bazant, Executive Vice President, FOX Sports
• Joel Fisher, Executive Vice President, Marquee Events and Operations, Madison Square Garden
• Will Crall, President, On3 Sports 

Moderator: Ben Portnoy, Journalist, Sports Business Journal
 
Panel 4 – Funding College Athletics

• Michael Schreiber, Founder and Executive Chairman, Playfly Sports
• Jonathan Marks, Chief Business Officer, Elevate College and Global Marketplace
• Ted Oberwager, Partner, KKR

Moderator: Joe Leccese, Partner and Co-Head Sports Group, Proskauer
 
Panel 5 – Legal and Public Policy Landscape

• Gabe Feldman, Associate Professor and Director of Sports Law, Tulane University
• Dawn Buth, Managing Director of Government Relations, NCAA

Moderator: Ross Dellenger, Journalist, Yahoo! Sports