Val Ackerman Steps Down After 13 Years Steering the Big East Through Its Darkest Days
Val Ackerman is hanging up her whistle. The Big East commissioner announced her retirement this summer after 13 years at the helm, stepping away from one of college basketball's most storied conferences at a moment when the league finally has its footing back.
Think about what Ackerman inherited when she took over in summer 2013. The Big East was hemorrhaging blue-chip programs. Syracuse, Pitt, Notre Dame and Louisville bolted for the ACC. Rutgers grabbed a Big Ten invite. West Virginia headed to the Big 12. And the gut punch: UConn, Cincinnati and South Florida all fled to the AAC. It was a conference getting dismantled in real time.
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What Ackerman did next mattered. The remaining seven schools, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova, formed a new Big East foundation. Butler, Creighton and Xavier joined to make it 10 teams by March 2013. It was a reset, not a resurrection.
Then came the masterstroke. Ackerman spearheaded the negotiations to bring UConn back in summer 2020. The Huskies have won a combined three national championships between men's and women's basketball since returning to the conference. That's the kind of win that tells you everything about a leader's vision.
Eight Titles, Long-Term Security, and the Right Time to Leave
During Ackerman's tenure, Big East men's and women's basketball combined to win eight national championships. The conference locked down long-term business deals. The schools stayed locked in competitively and academically. When she looked around the room, the future was bright.
"With our long-term business deals securely in place and knowing we have strong, focused leadership on our campuses, I am confident that the future of the conference, and Big East basketball in particular, is very bright, and I believe the time is right for me to hand off the baton," Ackerman said.
Before the Big East, Ackerman founded the WNBA, served as USA Basketball president, and represented men's and women's basketball for FIBA on its central board. She's 66 and leaving on her own terms, with the conference stable. That's a legacy.
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