Walter Byers

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Walter Byers (born March 13, 1922) was the first executive director of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He served from 1951 to 1988. He also helped start the United States Basketball Writers Association in 1956. The NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship is named in his honor.

Byers expanded the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1951 to 16 teams, the first step in expanding the tournament to the spectacle it is today. The number of teams fluctuated over the next few decades, but never went below 16 again and eventually expanded further under Byers' leadership. The tournament previously had just eight teams. WFAN New York's Mike Francesa referred to him as an "Oz-like" figure who ran the NCAA with ultimate control.

External links

SI.com article on Byers

v t e NCAA executive directors

Walter Byers (1951–1988) Dick Schultz (1988–1993) Cedric Dempsey (1994–2002) Myles Brand (2003–2009) Jim Isch # (2009–2010) Mark Emmert (2010– )

Pound sign (#) denotes interim Executive Director.

Authority control	VIAF: 41085349

Persondata
Name	Byers, Walter
Alternative names
Short description	American basketball player
Date of birth	March 13, 1922
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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