The West Coast Conference has its new commissioner and Stu Jackson is his name.
According to The Athletic, Jackson will replace Gloria Nevarez, who had been WCC commissioner for the last five years but left to take the same role with the Mountain West Conference starting January 1st, 2023.
Jackson is a familiar name in the basketball world.
He was a coach with the Knicks for four seasons (two as an assistant, two as the head coach) and then moved to Vancouver as the team’s president and gm for six years. From there, he moved to the NBA offices as the executive vice president of the league from 2000-2013. Then he moved to the Big East, first as the conference’s senior associate commissioner and then as its executive associate commissioner of men’s basketball since 2019.
Jackson brings great basketball and executive experience to the conference, which is desperately needed at this time as the conference is experiencing the uncertainty caused by conference realignment.
Men’s basketball powerhouse Gonzaga is being courted by the Big 12 and BYU is actually leaving for the Big 12 this summer. If the Bulldogs leave as well, that leaves the WCC with Saint Mary’s as the conference’s most notable basketball program.
Hopefully Jackson will bring stability to the WCC, which in turn will convince Gonzaga to stay in the west as he strengthens the conference and prepares it for the future.
