NEW YORK (May 9, 2023) – Dan Leibovitz, who has served as the lead men’s basketball administrator for the Southeastern Conference for the past seven years, has been named Senior Associate Commissioner, Men’s Basketball for the BIG EAST Conference, Commissioner Val Ackerman announced.
Leibovitz will oversee all matters related to BIG EAST men's basketball operations and strategy, including scheduling, officiating and management of the BIG EAST men’s basketball tournament, which has been held at Madison Square Garden since 1983. Leibovitz will also serve as the conference’s senior liaison with its men’s basketball head coaches, school and NCAA administrators, campus game management staff, and other members of the basketball community.
A highly respected administrator in the college basketball world, Leibovitz has been part of the SEC staff since 2016 after working for two years as the Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball for the American Athletic Conference. He was the head coach at the University of Hartford (2006-10) and held assistant coaching positions at Temple University (1996-2006) and the University of Pennsylvania (2010-12). He also spent a season as an assistant coach for the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets. Leibovitz earned an undergraduate degree from Penn and a master’s degree from Temple.
“Dan has had an impressive set of experiences at many levels of the game of basketball, and we are very excited that he will be bringing his leadership skills and wealth of expertise to the BIG EAST," said Ackerman. "We are committed to keeping the BIG EAST at the forefront of college basketball, and Dan will play a critical role in helping our schools maintain top-flight programs and navigate the challenges and opportunities in front of us as we look to the future.”
Both appointments are effective June 1.
The BIG EAST also announced the hiring of Jeffrey Poulard as Associate Commissioner, Compliance and Governance/Chief DEI Officer. Poulard will handle a range of compliance and governance matters and spearhead the next phase of the BIG EAST’s efforts to develop innovative DEI programs and partnerships and help create inclusive environments on member school campuses. He will also serve as the conference’s principal liaison to the BIG EAST DEI Working Group, which was formed in 2019 to develop best practices and a strategic DEI roadmap for the conference and includes representatives from all 11 member schools.
Poulard comes to the BIG EAST from Rutgers University, where he served as Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. His tenure at Rutgers, which began in 2021, followed five years at BIG EAST member Xavier University where he began as Director of Compliance and became Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance. He has also served in compliance roles at the University of Maryland and Howard University and was a compliance graduate assistant at William & Mary, where he was a 2012 graduate of its School of Law. His undergraduate degree is from American University.
“We are very excited to welcome Jeff back to the BIG EAST and know his knowledge and experience across many disciplines, including name, image and likeness, will be of great value to our schools,” said Ackerman. “Jeff’s work in the DEI area will be especially helpful as we look to build on our body of work over the past four years and strengthen our efforts to ‘BE the Change’ nationally and in our campus communities.”