INDIANAPOLIS — Southwestern Athletic Conference Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland will be the first person representing an HBCU league or institution to chair the Division I men’s basketball committee when he assumes that duty for the 2023-24 season. McClelland, who has been on the committee since 2019, will be the vice chair for the upcoming season, supporting incoming chair Chris Reynolds, the director of athletics at Bradley University.
McClelland has been at the SWAC since 2018 and previously served as Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics at Texas Southern University, a position he held for a decade. Prior to going to Texas Southern, he spent seven years as director of athletics at Prairie View A&M University, from which he received his undergraduate degree in 1993 and his MBA in 1997. McClelland also holds a doctoral degree in higher education from Texas A&M.
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected by my colleagues and I am very excited to continue the important work of the men’s basketball committee,” McClelland said. “In my opinion, the NCAA tournament is the greatest sporting event in the world, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure the future success of this great enterprise.”
In other news pertaining to the committee’s makeup, the Pac-12 Conference has appointed University of Arizona Athletics Director Dave Heeke as its new representative, replacing UCLA Athletics Director Martin Jarmond.
Reynolds, McClelland and Heeke will serve on the 2022-23 committee with Greg Byrne, the director of athletics at Alabama; Barry Collier, the director of athletics at Butler; Mark Coyle, the director of athletics at Minnesota; Bubba Cunningham, the director of athletics at North Carolina; Keith Gill, the commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference; Bernadette McGlade, the commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference; Martin Newton, the director of athletics at Samford University; Jamie Pollard, the director of athletics at Iowa State; and Tom Wistrcill; the commissioner of the Big Sky Conference.
That group, along with 2021-22 committee chair Tom Burnett, discussed a variety of topics at its annual summer meeting in Kissimmee, Fla. this week, including ticketing, selections, tournament operations, officiating, ancillary events, broadcast and media issues, long-range planning and the Men’s Final Four site selection process, which is scheduled to conclude with the announcement of the 2027-2031 sites in November.
About the SWAC
The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is considered one of the premier HBCU conferences in the country and currently ranks among the elite in the nation in terms of HBCU alumni playing with professional sports teams.
Current championship competition offered by the league includes competition for men in Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field and Tennis.
Women’s competition is offered in the sports of Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Golf, Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field, Soccer, Softball, Tennis and Volleyball.