KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Jim Delany, one of the most influential figures in the history of intercollegiate athletics for more than 30 years as commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, is the 2021 recipient of the Cliff Wells Appreciation Award for long and outstanding service to men’s college basketball.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches will present the award, named in honor of Cliff Wells, a former NABC executive director, during the virtual NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show on Friday, April 2, at 6:30 p.m. (EDT) The awards show will be live streamed on Stadium.
Basketball has been a big part of Delany’s life, having grown up around the game in New Jersey. The recently retired Delany, a prep standout at St. Benedict’s in Newark, learned from his father, a high school coach who is a member of the Seton Hall University Hall of Fame.
Moving on to the University of North Carolina, Hall of Famer Larry Brown was his coach when freshmen were not eligible to play with the upperclassmen, and things only got better. Over the next two seasons, the Tar Heels advanced to the NCAA Final Four under Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith and Delany was Carolina’s captain as a senior.
Delany went on to earn a law degree at North Carolina, worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and on the NCAA enforcement staff. He was commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference for four years before moving on to the Big Ten.
Delany was an influential factor as a member of the NCAA men’s basketball committee in securing a multi-million dollar television contract for the NCAA Tournament with CBS. That sparked his interest in exploring the possibility of the Big Ten becoming the first conference to create its own network, which he did, with Fox as a partner.
Delany, influenced by another Hall of Famer, former Big East founder and commissioner Dave Gavitt, recognized that there was a need to have a strong early start to the basketball season in November and December. With support from the institutions and the conference basketball coaches, the Big Ten did that along with building a tournament and going to a 20-game schedule.
The Big Ten expanded its base of influence and access, adding Penn State in 1990, Nebraska in 2011 and Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. Delany gained the exposure he envisioned, especially in the eastern corridor, an area with outstanding financial and political influences and large numbers of Big Ten alumni.
“Jim’s impact on college athletics goes far beyond the fields and courts and cannot be understated. He was a tremendous ambassador for the Big Ten Conference, its universities, athletic departments, coaches and student-athletes to help make the Big Ten the elite conference it is today, both academically and athletically,” said Purdue head coach Matt Painter, who also played for the Boilermakers.
“His vision for the Big Ten helped shape college athletics on a national level and he should be regarded as one of the most-influential figures in the history of collegiate athletics.”
A complete list of the NABC Cliff Wells Appreciation Award recipients is available here.
