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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S MEDIA DAY

October 15, 2015

Larry Scott

San Francisco, California

LARRY SCOTT: Good morning, everyone. I'm Larry Scott, commissioner of the Pac‑12 Conference. It's an absolute pleasure to welcome you all here today to the Pac‑12 offices and our studios for our men's basketball media day. As you saw in the video, we're celebrating a pretty special birthday this year, the 100th anniversary, our centennial of this storied conference. And as you're here today and have a sense to walk around, I encourage you to look around and soak in some of the tremendous history, pedigree and heritage of the conference which is on display throughout our offices.
Now this 100th anniversary offers us a great opportunity to look back over the last 100 years and especially when it comes to basketball to reflect on some of the great icons that have passed through our schools, some of the biggest personalities in college basketball that have been part of the Pac‑12 Conference. In fact, the Pac‑12 has won more basketball championships, 16, than any other conference in the country. Six of our teams have won titles, setting up a legacy of excellence for which this conference is known. Beyond the titles, of course, we've got some of the most legendary figures in all of college basketball and some of our coaches like John Wooden, Lute Olson, Ralph Miller, Mike Montgomery and many others. The 12 coaches we have here today stand on their shoulders, and I believe we've got the greatest group of coaches in college basketball today as well as in history.
I want to pay a special welcome to Bobby Hurley who joins us at Arizona State University. Really excited to have Bobby join this conference. Not only has he won two NCAA Championships while at Duke, he's the all‑time assist leader in NCAA college basketball history. So he's a legendary figure in his own right as he joins our conference this year.
Also want to welcome and encourage you to get to know the student‑athletes that are here today. When I think about the Pac‑12 Conference and what's unique about it in terms of its great blend of academic excellence, and athletic excellence, I think this is best reflected when you look at some of the student‑athletes that are here today.
Great students, interesting stories, as well as tremendous basketball players. The legacy of Pac‑12 basketball student‑athletes is pretty tremendous, and it goes beyond their success in college to success in the NBA. Just consider in the last three years alone the Pac‑12 has had 23 NBA draft choices, and for those of you that follow the NBA, you would have seen in this last year's NBA finals, nine former Pac‑12 student‑athletes either playing or coaching on the two teams that were involved. It kind of felt like a Pac‑12 NBA final to me.
This legacy includes many others that have left our cities and become successful outside sport, and this is something that we're most proud of, as we believe being a student‑athlete in Pac‑12 really enables you to go on and be successful in life afterwards, regardless of what you're going to do.
When you look at some of the student‑athletes that are here with us today, you think about some of the all-academic award winners like Kaleb Tarczewski, Josh Hawkinson, Brandon Taylor, and I think of Tyrone Wallace who I just had a chance to talk to, who may be the first in his family to graduate college. That's pretty special.
Pac‑12 is a prime example of well‑rounded students, and this centennial offers us the opportunity to look back and reflect on core values that underpen the Pac‑12 Network which we're most proud of.
Today is also a chance to look at this season, look forward, and as I think about the current state of Pac‑12 basketball, look to the future, I'm very excited and optimistic about how our conference is looking. If I use the NCAA tournament as a barometer, we've got great momentum going in as a conference. In the last three years, we've sent 15 teams to the NCAA tournament. This is a big jump over the prior three years when we had nine teams in the prior three‑year period, so there is a real sense of momentum and increasing did go in our conference. In addition to great performances in tournaments where we've had teams, of course in Elite Eight, Sweet Sixteen, and seen much improvement. We've got a very competitive schedule in addition to the 18‑game conference schedule that we've got a very strong lineup of non‑conference games this year. 37 non‑conference games against NCAA tournament teams this coming year.
So we're going host such high‑profile teams as Kentucky, Baylor, Gonzaga, San Diego State, BYU, Texas, NCAA Cinderellas such as Davidson, Belmont, Valparaiso, these will be great non‑conference games early in the season that offer not just a tremendous measuring stick for our conference early on, but great national attention. Our season once again is going to culminate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena at the men's basketball tournament. It is our fourth year in Vegas, and I believe we've built the very best atmosphere for a college basketball tournament there. Our fans have responded. They love it. They have a tremendous energy in that arena. It's been electric. We get great feedback from our student‑athletes. We've got a great foundation to build upon.
In addition to ending our season with a bang, we're also going to start our season in a very unusual way this year. We're going to be the first league, first U.S. league, collegiate or professional, to play a regular season game in China. On November 14, University of Washington is going to be hosting the University of Texas in Shanghai, China. Which we hope is going to become an annual tradition for how we open our season. It's going to be a very big deal in China. A blanket national coverage there, and importantly, working with our partner ESPN, it could be a big deal back here in the states too. The game is going to be Friday night the 13th, west coast primetime on ESPN. It's going to be a fabulous way to kick off our season with an exciting bang.
Our university leaders are increasingly focused on globalization and how young people from around the world can contribute to their school, as well as how their universities can contribute to the world. That's how this Pac‑12 Globalization Initiative fits into the important priorities of our schools.
And while the increasing global focus of each university extends to academics and research I see what we're doing in basketball, and eventually we'll do in other sports as well, is a great example of how athletics can fit with the broader mission of our universities.
In addition to the game itself, there is going to be a full week of educational and academic opportunities for the student‑athletes to learn about that country.
From an academic standpoint, learn about the economy. In fact, the University of Washington has actually built the curriculum for their student‑athletes on the basketball team that they're getting credit for leading up to the game, which I think is a groundbreaking and break‑through idea that really takes full advantage of this great opportunity student‑athletes have. In fact, most of the student‑athletes on the Washington team I can speak to have not traveled outside the U.S. before. I think only Andrew Andrews who was on the Pac‑12 All‑Star team last summer that went over there, is probably the only student‑athlete that's ever been to China before. So it's going to be an eye‑opening, life‑changing, academic and educational and cultural experience for these student‑athletes.
Let me talk a little about what's happening beyond the national landscape with basketball. A lot of reform going on within our conference as well as the NCAA at‑large that impacts basketball, but other sports as well. Thanks to the leadership of Pac‑12 presidents and chancellors and our Pac‑12 council, our conference continues to provide tremendous leadership in terms of the transformation that's happening with collegiate athletics.
This fall we started implementing a full call for the for student‑athletes at our schools. Our student‑athletes are getting more support financially, academically, medically, nutritionally than they've ever received before. And I'm proud that the Pac‑12 is providing tremendous leadership in this area. And there's more work to do. This fall turning our attention to time demands are going to be debated with our colleagues in other peer conferences, leading up to the January autonomy session among the five conferences where we now have a chance to pass reform within the NCAA.
Not going to go into great detail on these concepts, but I do want to note that in this environment that we're in, in addition to proactive measures, we are taking to transform and reform collegiate athletics and the amount of support our student‑athletes receive that the courts are also reaffirming some of the core values that underpin our vision of collegiate athletics. Particularly I'm referring to the recent U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that upheld our view that stipends beyond the full cost of attendance should not be required by the law.
In all of our efforts toward reform, the overriding principle for the Pac‑12 is to do the right thing by student‑athletes, while avoiding treating them as professionals or employees. We think that's the right balance to strike, we're committed to it. All of our reform efforts are aimed in that direction. We agree, the court validates the principle that we've been fighting for and stand behind.
So as we celebrate our centennial anniversary, we do it in the Pac‑12 tradition. We celebrate the great heritage that we have, the tremendous legacy of success and excellence which defines the Pac‑12, but we also enjoy where the Pac‑12 is today and look forward to a bright and innovative future as the Pac‑12 redefines the role of a collegiate conference and the support that we can provide for our student‑athletes and our schools.
Thank you for being here today. I think it will be a great day. Lot of excitement around men's Pac‑12 basketball, and I look forward to taking any questions that you have.

Q. People like the commissioners believe the stipend would be improbable for student‑athletes? Why is that?
LARRY SCOTT: Probably the simplest way to put it is they're students, not employees, and fully support as much financial support, academic support, medical support, and unlimited food and nutritional support. But there is a line in the sand that we believe would be inappropriate to cross which is treating them as employees where they're at school to make money.
Our view is you go to school to learn how to be successful and have the opportunity to become successful in life or make a lot of money. The purpose to go to school isn't to be a professional employee and to make money.

Q. What do you anticipate being the next legal step? Or is the NCAA expecting appeal or is the NCAA going to appeal the ruling?
LARRY SCOTT: I think that's all being discussed right now. I don't think the decision of the NCAA as to what their response is ultimately going to be.

Q. About the MGM site, obviously, it's been extended. Do you see that being the site of the Pac‑12 basketball tournament for many years to come or what is the goal there?
LARRY SCOTT: It was a big move for us when we left Los Angeles for Las Vegas. We did a lot of due diligence, talked to a lot of fans. Had a sense that it would have the potential, I should say, to become a real fan favorite. We're delighted with how it's gone in our first three years there. I think it's fair to say probably even exceeded our expectations in terms of what a happening it has become for our fans to go to Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. For those of you that have been there, which I think is most in the room, you look around and realize there is an electricity and a buzz in that tournament that is really hard to manufacture. So I think we're fortunate. We hit it right. Our schools have supported it well, but, boy, have our fans responded. It's everything we could have hoped for and more in terms of the atmosphere in the arena, which creates a big time feel and translates well on TV, and our student‑athletes have a great experience.
We've enjoyed a lot of sellout sessions, and it's kind of bursting at the seams. So I feel very good about Los Angeles as a destination. We've extended the deal one year, so we'll be there to evaluate. And in Las Vegas, the building of a brand‑new state‑of‑the‑art 18,000 seat arena that will be very well laid out for basketball.
So our team is in the process of discussions with the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with their partners AAG in this new Arena for some of you who aren't familiar with the plan on the strip, as you walk from a hotel, but outside a hotel proper. And we are currently weighing up our different options at the moment. I expect by the time we get to our tournament this year we'll have a decision and some news in terms of what we're doing going forward. But we think we've got a great home for the tournament in Las Vegas.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about what the additions of Utah and Colorado have done to the conference now that it's been a few years? Can you talk about how much of that helped the conference having those two schools added?
LARRY SCOTT: It's been a tremendous addition to the conference, and its helped in numerous ways. The original impetus for the move was several‑fold. We very much wanted to get to at least a 12‑team conference, because according to NCAA rules, you have to be 12 teams to have a football championship so you can split into two divisions of six teams and have a championship game.
It was very much my belief that as we looked to the future from a Pac‑12 football perspective, it was important to have a championship game at the end of the season that would be a spectacle event to attract a lot of attention and focus for the end of the season. It would, as we compete for national attention for this conference, having the drama of a south champion, a north champion, having a chance to playoff for the Pac‑12 Championship would be a great context for us to talk about our season and bring more attention and focus.
In addition to it being a valuable piece the television contract which we were going to negotiate. So we made the decision, and by 2011 we could then go to the TV market. So very much accomplished our goals of allowing us to do that. Our Pac‑12 football championship has turned out to be a great success. Obviously, we were delighted with the outcome of our television negotiations that validated that decision. Specifically about Colorado and Utah, they wound up being a tremendous fit as we thought they would. First of all, academically, two very, very highly regarded, prestigious, national, academic institutions known for high‑quality research, high academic standing and all the rankings and they fit very well with the profile of Pac‑12 schools.
Geographically, of course, good fit. Not a lot of strain or wear and tear on student‑athletes in terms of traveling to Utah and Colorado. And a tremendous heritage in football and basketball, both schools which has been that fit the caliber of the conference. That was the underlying rationale. The integration has been seamless. Both schools have had a lot of success across the board, when I look at all of our sports, to a broader array of sports. They have won conference titles or competed at the highest level in Pac‑12 Championships. So we're very pleased with how it's going.

Q. Last year's scoring was down in college basketball, and the number of rules changes in this off‑season like the shot clock. Do you see the low scoring as a hurdle to overcome for the sport or do you see changes needing help there?
LARRY SCOTT: I'm completely supportive and have been pushing for some of the rule changes that we now see going in. A more free flowing game that creates more balance between offense and defense will be a real positive for college basketball in general in terms of its overall popularity. I believe we've been very welcome in our conference where we've got tremendous athletic talent, lot of offensively minded teams. We talked earlier about the number of players that come to our conference to the NBA where it is a more free flowing, offensively minded style. So I think it will be good for the overall health of collegiate basketball. Certainly good for our conference. Now, there will be a transition period. I think we should all be prepared for the beginning of the season. Feeling a little different. Feeling a little awkward as people adjust and there may be a lot more whistles blown than we're used to. So I think everyone should expect the number of fouls to be called to be up early in the season as people adjust to the new points of emphasis. But in general I'm a big proponent of this move toward the more free flowing game.

Q. Building off that, there is a lot of talk about how to make college basketball more popular, especially in November and December when a lot of people are paying attention to college football and the NFL. What can be done? What might be there to grow the sport and give it a better spotlight in the midst of all that?
LARRY SCOTT: Rules are always something everyone's looking at. First of all, let me start by saying college basketball is great. I mean, it's tremendous. If you look at the objective measures of ratings, attendance, overall popularity, college basketball is healthy by any measure. I think it's also fair to say if you look at it objectively is the way college basketball ends with the conference tournaments and March Madness is off the charts successful. Our conference tournament as an example and the popularity of March Madness from fan engagement perspective, ratings, attendance, value, we truly have one of America's most iconic sporting events that captures the whole country's imagination for a month.
We can be self‑critical; we should be. I am. But I do want to start by saying we've got something pretty special in terms of college basketball. So where I think we should look is the overlap between football and the basketball season can be a challenge. There is only so much bandwidth, as I'm sitting here today in October talking about the upcoming basketball season with the baseball playoffs going on, the NBA season getting ready to start, and college football and the NFL, so it's a challenging environment.
One of the most interesting ideas that have been bandied about is what can you do about this season? Can you make it a one‑semester sport? We've had a discussion about that in our conference. I know there's been a flurry of media documenting the intriguing concept that we absolutely ought to explore. But in looking at any changes you want to make sure to build upon your strengths, the strength of college basketball is March, and the way it ends, and we ought to be careful about anything we do. You wouldn't want to look at strength in the overall and wind up undermining the crown jewel of college basketball which is March Madness.
So I don't think there is any easy solution, but there is no doubt that regular season college basketball may have become more of a commodity than we'd like it to become. When college basketball is at its best and its most special, it's unrivaled in terms of the excitement that it brings.

Q. I think it was yesterday that San Jose News had a story broke that the possibility that the season could be pushed back a month and perhaps extend more into April, maybe even May. Do you see that as a realistic possibility in the sport?
LARRY SCOTT: I was really just responding to that. I absolutely think it should be explored. I think we should look at everything. But as far as that consideration, we have to realize March Madness is something very unique, something very special, part of the psyche of the American sporting fan. It captures people's imagination and engagement in a way that's very hard to recreate. So I think that needs to be thought about pretty carefully before you move it.
I do love the idea of college basketball becoming a one semester sport, being a little more compact. Having a little more natural progression from college football to college basketball because that makes sense to me on a lot of levels. But the balance to that is what would it do to the way the college basketball season ends.

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