Greg Shaheen, NCAA, Senior Vice President, Basketball and Business Strategies; NIT, President
Greg Shaheen oversees the strategic management and operations of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, as well as the Association’s 14-year, $10.8 Billion contracts with broadcast partners CBS Sports and Turner Cable Networks. Shaheen oversees the NCAA Corporate Champion/Corporate Partner program, and is President of the NIT, L.L.C.
Shaheen manages the NCAA’s Corporate and Broadcast Alliances group, with responsibility for the bundled-rights agreement, including television, radio, Internet, publishing, marketing, licensing and fan festivals, as well as the organization’s other media initiatives. The group works with the NCAA’s broadcast partners, Corporate Champions and Partners to activate across the organization’s 88 Championships conducted annually at more than 750 sites nationwide.
Shaheen chairs the NCAA’s internal Incident Assessment Team, responsible for handling situations that may affect the organization’s ongoing operations and championships. The group was initiated in 2003 and ultimately handled the NCAA’s assessment and response in operating its championship events in the face of the Iraq War.
Among his other accomplishments, Shaheen has overseen the revision of the operations policies of the championship as well as broadening the variety of activities surrounding the NCAA Final Four. He has also been integral in the development of systems to monitor and provide continuous information to the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee which has been implemented across other NCAA Championships.
Shaheen served on-loan as the Executive Director of the NCAA/NFHS 2000 Projects, for which he was responsible for overseeing the design and development of the organizations’ headquarters in downtown Indianapolis, as well as overseeing the relocation of 300-plus employees.
In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Shaheen was named to Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40.”
Shaheen joined the NCAA in 2000 after serving as the Director of Operations for the Indianapolis Local Organizing Committee. For 18 years, Shaheen served as the Chief Administrative Officer of Indianapolis-based Long Electric Company, Inc., a privately-held company with 600 employees.
Shaheen is a graduate with Distinction from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He also serves as the Program Director of Opportunities to Learn About Business (OLAB). The program, based at Wabash College, is an intensive nine-day summer program for Indiana high school seniors sponsored by 50 local corporations and community groups. He has served as a Board Member for the Miami University Thomas Page Center for Entrepreneurship. He has also held positions on the boards of Indiana Sports Corporation, The Inocon Group, Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of Indianapolis and the Carmel-Clay Education Foundation.
Colin Osborne, Web/Multimedia Designer, Rutgers University Athletics
Colin Osborne is entering his 12th year as Web/Multimedia Designer for Rutgers University Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. He is responsible for the design, coding, maintenance and updating of ScarletKnights.com and other athletic-related websites within the University. Rutgers is one of only a handful of Division IA schools that hosts and maintains its own Website.
Osborne also oversees the department’s broadband video network, “KnightVision,” which launched in August of 2009. The video network streams live home games of Rutgers’ 22 intercollegiate sports, press conferences and events such as football Pro Day.
Osborne is responsible for training the student production crews and interns, producing/directing, equipment purchasing, and administering the in-house video servers that stream KnightVision on-demand and live programming.
Osborne has an extensive background in corporate and broadcast television production. After graduating from Rutgers in 1989 with a degree in Journalism/Mass Media, he became a freelance camera operator/production technician, working on projects for Fortune 500 companies such as American Express, Merck, and Novartis (formerly Sandoz Pharmaceuticals). He also worked on numerous sporting events for ESPN regional, Main Events Boxing, and local production houses.
In 1992, Osborne joined New Jersey Network Public Television as a Production Technician/Assistant Editor. His duties included camera operation, technical directing, control room graphics, audio, and offline editing on BetaCam SP and D2 formats. He designed electronic graphics on Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning programs NJN News, State of the Arts, and various documentaries distributed on PBS.
When Knight-Ridder and WPHL-17 Philadelphia launched Inquirer News Tonight in 1994, Osborne was recruited to be the lead Chyron Infinit! operator. Aside from normal control room duties, he was responsible for interfacing the Chyron and Dynatech New-Star newsroom software for election night coverage.
Osborne left WPHL in March, 1995 to join New Jersey Network on a full-time basis.
In 1997, he ventured into multimedia production and joined AT&T Labs in Holmdel, N.J. as a multimedia producer. He worked on a range of projects that included the AT&T True Rewards website redesign and the AT&T WorldNet dialup consumer software interface.
Osborne resides in Middletown N.J. with his wife Bonnie and their two children.
Rick Sykes, Professor, Central Michigan University
Rick Sykes is a full professor at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. He was also the 2009 Chair of the Sports Division for the Broadcast Education Association (BEA). Prior to joining the faculty at Central Michigan, Sykes worked for more than 20 years in the communication business. He spent 17 years in broadcast news in medium and large sized markets holding both talent and management positions.
Following his news experience, Sykes worked for six years as a senior executive for a public relations agency in the Detroit market. As a PR executive, he was involved in several community relations projects with Detroit sports teams.
In addition to teaching broadcast news and sports related courses, Sykes oversees a student-produced nightly newscast that airs live five nights a week.
Shaheen To Keynote College Sports Video Summit
The second-annual College Sports Video Summit, to be held June 8 and 9 in Atlanta, will once again bring together the best and the brightest in the world of college sports video production. Kicking off the two-day program of panel discussions, workshops, and networking will be a keynote address from Greg Shaheen, the NCAA’s SVP of basketball and business strategies and president of the NIT. March Madness and March Madness on Demand are two of the most valuable properties in all of sports programming, and Shaheen oversees the $6 billion media contracts that have made them so.
“I am honored to be part of the second-annual SVG College Sports Video Summit,” Shaheen says. “The NCAA and its member institutions are committed to the enhancement of video as a means of building a brand, connecting with fans and alumni, and generating revenue. An investment in video production is a most efficient use of resources, and the CSVS is the place for our member institutions to learn how – and why – they can efficiently make that investment.
“The topics covered throughout the program will address the most critical issues in college sports video production and offer advice from recognized experts in the industry. June 8 and 9 will be pivotal dates for the college sports production industry. I am pleased to be part of what is becoming a seminal meeting for college sports production professionals.”
Shaheen oversees the strategic management and operations of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, affectionately known as March Madness, as well as the Association’s 11-year, $6 Billion contracts with broadcast partners CBS and ESPN. Shaheen oversees the NCAA Corporate Champion/Corporate Partner program, and is President of the NIT, L.L.C.
Shaheen also manages the NCAA’s Corporate and Broadcast Alliances group, with responsibility for the bundled-rights agreement, including television, radio, Internet, publishing, marketing, licensing, and fan festivals, as well as the organization’s other media initiatives. The group works with the NCAA’s broadcast partners, corporate champions, and partners to activate across the organization’s 88 championships conducted annually at more than 750 sites nationwide.
Shaheen chairs the NCAA’s internal Incident Assessment Team, which is responsible for handling situations that may affect the organization’s ongoing operations and championships. The group was initiated in 2003 and ultimately handled the NCAA’s assessment and response in operating its championship events in the face of the Iraq War.
Among his other accomplishments, Shaheen has overseen the revision of the operations policies of the men’s basketball championship as well as broadening the variety of activities surrounding the NCAA Final Four. He has also been integral in the development of systems to monitor and provide continuous information to the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee that has been implemented across other NCAA Championships.
Shaheen served on-loan as the Executive Director of the NCAA/NFHS 2000 Projects, for which he was responsible for overseeing the design and development of the organizations’ headquarters in downtown Indianapolis, as well as overseeing the relocation of 300-plus employees.
In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Shaheen was named to Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40.”
Shaheen joined the NCAA in 2000 after serving as the Director of Operations for the Indianapolis Local Organizing Committee. For 18 years, Shaheen served as the Chief Administrative Officer of Indianapolis-based Long Electric Company, Inc., a privately-held company with 600 employees.
Shaheen is a graduate with Distinction from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He also serves as the Program Director of Opportunities to Learn About Business (OLAB). The program, based at Wabash College, is an intensive nine-day summer program for Indiana high school seniors sponsored by 50 local corporations and community groups. He has served as a Board Member for the Miami University Thomas Page Center for Entrepreneurship. He has also held positions on the boards of Indiana Sports Corporation, The Inocon Group, Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of Indianapolis and the Carmel-Clay Education Foundation.
Mark Rudner, Associate Commissioner, Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Associate Commissioner Mark Rudner began his 32nd consecutive year of service to Big Ten Conference universities on January 8, 2010.
Rudner, 55, a native of Canton, Ohio and 1978 graduate of The Ohio State University, has served the Conference in many different capacities. He was hired in 1979 by then commissioner Wayne Duke as the assistant media relations director, a position he held for six years before being named Director of Communications.
He was named assistant to current Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany upon the latter’s appointment in 1989, and then was elevated to the position of Associate Commissioner in 1998.
Rudner participated, and was a leader, in many of the sweeping changes that affected Big Ten athletics in the last 31 years. The integration of women’s sports and women’s sports championships into the Big Ten Conference in 1981, the expansion of the Conference in 1989 to include an 11th member—Penn State University, development of comprehensive television and multimedia packages in men’s and women’s sports, and special events management are just some of the accomplishments that have marked his time at the Big Ten.
He helped negotiate new television agreements with ABC Sports, ESPN, and CBS Sports, generated new television programming for women’s sports, and was for many years one of the Executive Producers of the Big Ten women’s basketball game of the week.
As an administrator, Rudner served as Conference office liaison to the Big Ten Directors of Athletics for 10 years, and is currently liaison to Big Ten football coaches. He works closely with men’s basketball coaches and women’s basketball coaches, and has also been a sports liaison to men’s and women’s gymnastics coaches, softball coaches and wrestling coaches.
He is staff liaison to Big Ten football postseason bowl partners, and in 2004 helped develop Big Ten instant replay ‘pilot’ program, the first of its kind in college football.
As a result of Big Ten institutions assigning all television rights in all varsity sports to the Big Ten Conference, Rudner has the responsibility to manage and administer more than 750 television programs each year.
And because of its direct relationship to television, Rudner is also responsible for coordinating regular-season scheduling of football and men’s and women’s basketball with the Conference’s media partners.
He has been a good-will ambassador for the Big Ten Conference at hundreds of Big Ten football and basketball games and other athletics events and championships. Rudner has represented the Big Ten on 35 occasions at postseason football bowl games, including numerous Rose Bowl contests.
Rudner married the former Sue King in June 1985. They have two sons, Brad (23), a University of Iowa graduate and an intern in the University of Michigan Department of Athletics, and Corey (20), a sophomore at the University of Illinois where he is majoring in Aviation.
They live in Schaumburg, IL.
Wil Roleson, Associate Commissioner for Communications and Multimedia, Horizon League
Will Roleson is in his fourth year as Associate Commissioner for Communications and Multimedia at the Horizon League following two as Assistant Commissioner for Communications.
In addition to serving as the League’s primary media contact for men’s basketball, he coordinates television and radio partnerships and handles future scheduling for men’s and women’s basketball. He also is co-chair of the Indianapolis Local Organizing Committee’s media services committee for the 2010 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
Roleson previously was the SID at Kent State University, where he handled media relations for an 18-sport program and managed a staff that included three full-time assistants, an historian and various students. He was the primary media contact for Kent State’s Division I-A football program for five years and the men’s basketball team from 2000-2002, during which time the Golden Flashes twice advanced to the NCAA Tournament, including a run to the Elite Eight in 2002.
A native of Brookville, Ind., Roleson served as an assistant editor at Host Communications, Inc., in Lexington, Ky., from 1994-96, and was an intern in the men’s sports information office at the University of Wisconsin from 1993-94.
Roleson graduated cum laude from Miami (Ohio) University in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.
Randy Eccker, Co-Founder, Executive Chairman, XOS Digital
Randy Eccker serves as the co-founder and executive chairman of the board for XOS Digital, Inc., a highly influential new media company with a client base that is representative of an 80 percent market share among BCS schools, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL, to name a few.
He initially helped establish XOS in 1999, bringing with him nine years of experience as a Division I basketball coach and more than 14 years of sports-technology knowledge, where he helped coaches and athletic programs leverage new technologies.
Since then, his unique combination of sports and high-tech acumen has helped bring XOS to the forefront as an industry leader. As executive chairman of XOS, he plays a critical role in driving the strategic vision of the company, in maintaining key customer and partner relationships, and in providing strategic counsel, conceptualization and implementation leadership for many of the business’ most groundbreaking initiatives.
Recent initiatives include the XOS Vault digital asset management system and the high-profile SEC Digital Network (inclusive of SEC Sports Mobile). These revolutionary technologies and platforms have changed the way teams and conferences manage their valuable assets, and enables them to extend their reach to more fans than ever before through the XOS Digital Syndication Platform. These initiatives, among many others, wouldn’t be possible without the team of 150 people that Eccker leads daily.
In addition to XOS, Eccker has helped establish several other companies in the sports-technology industry including Sports Tech in the late ‘80s and Avid Sports in 1994. He also has experience managing the Omaha Racers of the Continental Basketball Association in the early ‘90s and as a managing director of EBCO Capital from 1991 to 2000. Additionally, Eccker has served as an NBA scout and broadcaster as well as a former college basketball and baseball star player. During his days at Sports Video Productions, he produced and secured talent for regionalized sporting events, including Nebraska football and basketball games, Creighton basketball games, and Nebraska and Creighton coaching shows.
Today, Eccker is constantly introduced to the latest technology offerings and, along with his XOS team, continues to successfully adapt them for the sports market.
He is an alumnus of Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. and currently resides in Omaha, Neb. with his wife Theresa and four daughters – Mallory, Allison, Kelsey and Kiley.
Brad Baker, Director of Video Production, Georgia ISP Sports Network
Brad D. Baker is an Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and editor, who has worked in the film/TV industry for more than 15 years. He is the former production manager for the Redskins Broadcast Network, where he oversaw all aspects of video production with the Washington Redskins for two seasons.
He now works as the director of video production for ISP Sports Georgia, overseeing video for their Website, GeorgiaDogs.com, as well as producing the football and men’s basketball coaches’ shows.
Brad also has experience producing highlights for NFL Network, and prior to that, working with Arthur Sarkissian Productions, the Producer of the popular Rush Hour franchise.
Kristina Case, Assistant Commissioner, Video Operations, Pac-10 Conference
Kristina Case was named Assistant Commissioner of Video and Internet Operations in August 2006. She assists with the procurement, storage and distribution of video of Pac-10 competition, as well as assisting with the video administration of the Conference website. Her responsiblities also include working closely with the Conference’s various sport officiating coordinators and with the Video Directors of each of the 10 institutions.
A native of Philomath, Ore., Case is a graduate of Oregon State, where she earned a degree in liberal studies, with an emphasis in multimedia. She was previously employed by Oregon Health & Science University. In addition, she served as an instant replay technician for the Pac-10 Conference during the 2005 football season.
Case is married to her husband, James. The couple resides in Concord, Calif.
Michael Bruce, Oklahoma Baptist University, Assistant Professor and TV Production Manager
Michael Bruce is in his 12th year at Oklahoma Baptist University. He currently serves as an assistant professor and TV production manager in the university’s Communication Arts department. Professor Bruce supervises and maintains the student broadcast facilities and teaches courses in beginning and advanced video production, sports media, advertising, and organizational communication. He is also the executive producer for numerous student productions including live coverage of OBU sporting events on the Bison Sports Network.
Since 2000, Bruce has worked as a freelance director/technical director for numerous sports productions, including the Sooner Sports Network and the Cowboy Sports Network. In 2009, Bruce was tapped by PMTV to direct video board shows for Oklahoma State University football and basketball games.
Prior to OBU, Bruce worked for five years as a writer/producer/director at the U.S. Postal Service’s National Center for Employee Development in Norman, Oklahoma. At NCED, Bruce was a part of the world’s largest distance learning network. He developed technical training programs for delivery over interactive broadcast networks and through innovative interactive multimedia platforms.
Bruce began his career in 1988 at the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) as an entry-level production assistant operating audio equipment, Chyron graphics systems, and cameras.
Bruce is a member of the Broadcast Education Association. He helped establish the association’s sports division and served as the first chair of the division from 2008-2009.
Professor Bruce is currently completing his Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Oklahoma. He received an M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from OU in 1993. In 1989, he received a B.A. in Telecommunication from OBU, where he met his wife Teressa. They have two children, Kelsey and Eli.
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