Last week, the Big East Conference, which includes St. John’s University and Seton Hall University, announced that Val Ackerman, who has served as the league’s commissioner since 2013, will retire from the position effective August 31, 2026. Over the course of her career, Ackerman has held positions of significant impact and has been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
She was the first president of the WNBA, playing an instrumental role in the league’s founding and serving in that position until 2005. From there, she was president of USA Basketball for three years. When the Big East Conference came apart due to football-driven conference realignment and then reconfigured as a basketball-centric conference, Ackerman was named commissioner on June 26, 2013.
“This has been a dream job,” said Ackerman. “I want to apologize if the news of my retirement appears sudden or surprising. … The decision came after a lot of reflection … and was as simple as believing that I’m no kid anymore. I’ve worked what I hope will be seen as a good shift, and I really believe the time is right to hand off the baton and set in motion a transition to the next phase of my life and the next phase of the Big East. … I feel like I’ve been a front-row witness to so many exciting changes that have happened in sports and the game of basketball over the past four decades.”
In her press conference after announcing her retirement, Ackerman thanked the media. I have always appreciated her connection to those of us who cover the sports leagues she has led. While I may not have always agreed with everything, I’ve always admired her tireless work ethic and commitment to sport and elevating competition.
“As a product of Title IX (Ackerman played collegiate basketball at the University of Virginia), I am so proud of how far women’s college sports and women’s sports and women in sports have come over the past 50 years,” Ackerman said. “I hope we can ensure that women and girls don’t go backward with respect to sports participation opportunities because that experience, I can tell you from personal experience, is unrivaled in so many ways in the way it advances women in society and strengthens the overall leadership pipeline, whatever sector that may be.”