Cavagnaro chosen for transition committee

Steve Carp

Friday, June 5, 1998 | 10:50 a.m.

He has been there and done that. But Charlie Cavagnaro knows that each time you undertake starting a new collegiate athletic conference, there are unexpected twists and turns in the road.

The UNLV athletic director hopes his experiences will help the eight schools that are leaving the Western Athletic Conference to form a new league come the end of June in 1999.

Cavagnaro will be UNLV's representative on an eight-member transition committee which will deal with the myriad issues facing the fledgling league. The committee will report directly to the three-member presidents committee, which includes UNLV president Dr. Carol Harter.

"I'm excited about it," Cavagnaro said. "To see this move forward is exciting."

When Cavagnaro was athletic director at the University of Memphis, he was part of the process that formed the Great Midwest Conference. Later, he was involved in starting Conference USA.

"If there's a strength to what I bring it's the experience of having started two conferences from start to finish," he said. "One thing I will tell you is that putting a new conference together is a full-time job."

Cavagnaro said the first thing the new league has to do is come up with a game plan, then execute it.

"You're going to have eight different game plans, but you have to be able to develop those eight into one," he said.

The transition committee is expected to meet in the next 10 days and begin discussions on just what that game plan will be. The key issues early will be legal and legislative. The eight schools must draw up the paperwork to leave the WAC as well as apply to the NCAA for membership as a Division I conference.

The new league also must look into where its headquarters should be.

While that is going on, the new conference must begin serious negotiations with the television networks.

There had been informal talks before the announced split from the WAC last week. But those talks will have to intensify because the WAC also is having discussions with ESPN about extending its contract, which is up after this coming season.

"The lifeblood issue with any conference is television," Cavagnaro said. "It's very important we start working to that end as quickly as possible."

As for who will be commissioner, Cavagnaro said he is not interested in the job. But he has some thoughts on what the presidents should look for when they begin their search in January.

"One, you need someone with a sense and a feel for intercollegiate athletics," he said. "Two, you want someone who has expertise in marketing, someone who can negotiate with television and with corporations. Those are very, very important issues."

But he believes there's plenty of time to do what's necessary to ensure a smooth start come July 1, 1999.

"I think once we meet and get going, you'll see a lot of movement," he said."