NCAA Names Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker as President to Replace Mark Emmert

The NCAA will have a new president on March 1.

Since 2015, Baker has been a Republican governor. His term ends in January.

When he stepped down as NCAA president in April, he said he would serve until June 23, 2023 or until a new president was found.

The selection and recruitment of the next president can be done without interruption.

The NCAA allows players to profit off their name, image and likeness rights.

The governing body of college sports was hesitant to allow NIL until states legalized it.

The Supreme Court ruled in June of 2016 that the NCAA had to allow athletes to receive NIL payments.

The bill to legalized NIL in Massachusetts has not been enacted. NIL has been approved for high school athletes.

Lawmakers have been involved in NCAA affairs recently. A new version of the college athlete bill of rights was introduced in August. The NCAA's ability to punish member schools would be affected by a federal law created by a bipartisan group in Congress.

Baker has a political background.

According to Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic, those involved in the search believe the 66-year-old is uniquely suited to the NCAA's present needs due to his successfully forging bipartisan solutions to complex problems.

Baker was a basketball player at Harvard as an undergrad.