NEW YORK – James Isch has settled comfortably into his role as interim president of the NCAA.
He uses words like “constituency” in casual conversation, talks passionately about the student part of student-athlete, and brings a deep and diverse business background to the job during one of the worst recessions the country has ever known.
He’s just not getting too comfortable.
The man who describes himself as “just a Kansan” has already made it clear that he doesn’t want to be the permanent replacement for Myles Brand, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer in September after one of the most successful tenures in the organization’s history.
“I had this conversation with the chair of the executive committee. I’ve got a relatively short period of time I’ll be in this job and the question I had for him was, ‘Do you want me to be a caretaker or do you want someone to continue the momentum that Myles has begun, and intersperse a few other new initiatives?'” Isch told The Associated Press last week. “Certainly I wanted to do that.”
It wouldn’t be the first time he turned down an overture from the NCAA.
