NCAA

George �鶹��Ƶ’s Marvin Lewis serves on NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee as March Madness nears

Katarina Benson — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:25:57 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ’s Marvin Lewis serves on NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee as March Madness nears Katarina Benson Wed, 03/11/2026 - 19:25

Marvin Lewis knows a little something about the anxiety that comes with waiting for your team’s name to be called on Selection Sunday, and the euphoria that follows when that dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament becomes a reality.

Lewis, �鶹��Ƶ’s assistant vice president and director of Intercollegiate Athletics, is now in his inaugural season among those charged with making it happen for those lucky few as part of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.

Lewis, who played in two NCAA Tournaments as a standout player at Georgia Tech and helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the 2004 NCAA Championship game, called his addition to the selection committee last April as the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) representative “a huge honor.”

Lewis was chosen for the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

“As a kid, I always dreamed of playing in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “Then to have the experience at Georgia Tech to actually play in it, and then make it to the final game was special. But I feel like this is now a full-circle moment—with me now being an administrator helping to decide who’s in it. That’s probably the coolest thing for me. It’s pretty special.”

Lewis, however, won’t have much time to wax nostalgic because Selection Sunday is fast approaching on March 15, and there are scores of basketball games for him to watch between now and then from among the six conferences he’s been assigned.

He’s part of a 12-member committee charged with identifying the 31 best at-large teams to join the tournament’s 31 automatic qualifiers for the 68-team field that will compete for the national championship.

Committee members, who are led by chair and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Athletics Director Amanda Braun, have long been meticulously watching games, analyzing statistical profiles, reviewing results and weekly rankings, and applying a range of metrics and evaluation tools to build the most competitive tournament bracket possible.

“Over the past four months, I’ve watched more women’s basketball than I ever have,” Lewis said.

The selection to the high-profile committee is the most prestigious assignment yet for Lewis, whose star continues to rise in the field. But those who know him best are hardly surprised.

Former ACC Senior Associate Commissioner for Women’s Basketball Mary McElroy was the athletics director at Georgia State when she gave Lewis a reprieve from life as a certified public accountant by hiring him as an assistant athletics director for business in 2008. McElroy is a former Georgia Tech athletics department administrator and had known Lewis from their time there, recognizing his maturity and focus early on.

“I needed the help, and he had the experience and maturity I needed,” McElroy said. “So I took a chance on him.”

His new time-intensive duties mean that Lewis won’t be in Pittsburgh to watch the men’s basketball team compete in the A-10 Tournament. He’ll instead be in Indianapolis with fellow committee members as they absorb all the last-minute information before determining the women’s NCAA Tournament field.

Committee members cannot be present during discussions regarding the selection or seeding of a school or conference they represent.

“You just watch it on TV and everyone has an opinion or perspective on where their team should be seeded, whether their team should be in, or who should be placed in what order,” Lewis said. “But we spend hours debating, using the criteria the committee has established to make those determinations. It’s a lot more detailed than people would think.”

Under Lewis’ leadership, George �鶹��Ƶ Athletics delivered a historic 2024–25 season, capturing five A-10 Conference titles. Key highlights included:

Men’s basketball captured a share of the program’s first regular-season title, finishing with a school-record 27 wins and earning the team’s first National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearance since 2009.
Women’s basketball won its first A-10 Tournament championship, recorded a program-best 27 victories, and advanced to the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
Men’s soccer secured the program’s first regular-season title, finishing 13–4–1 overall and 6–1–1 in conference play, while Head Coach Rich Costanzo was named A-10 Coach of the Year.
Women’s indoor track & field won first championship since 2014.
Men’s outdoor track & field won first championship since 2010.

The five championships marked the most conference titles in a single season in program history, surpassing the previous record of four titles set during George �鶹��Ƶ’s inaugural A-10 campaign in 2013-14. The achievement also represented the program’s most successful competitive year since the 1994-95 season. George �鶹��Ƶ student-athletes also earned 18 all-conference selections or individual titles, while 75 received weekly A-10 awards.

Lewis’ close relationship with A-10 Coach of the Year Tony Skinn, a George �鶹��Ƶ alum who helped lead the Patriots to the 2006 Final Four, helped pave the way for a breakthrough season for the men’s basketball program last winter.

The women’s basketball team also delivered a historic season under Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis, who guided the Patriots to the program’s first A-10 championship and was later named a finalist for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award.

Lewis’s impact has been equally significant off the courts. During his tenure, a record number of student-athletes were named Peter N. Stearns Provost Scholar Athletes, including 78 in 2024-25 and 74 in 2025-26, the first time George �鶹��Ƶ has recorded back-to-back years with more than 70 honorees.

Beyond competitive success, Lewis has also focused on building the long-term foundation of Intercollegiate Athletics. In 2025, he introduced “Patriots United. Together We Thrive,” a five-year strategic vision designed to strengthen George �鶹��Ƶ Athletics through enhanced student-athlete support, improved resources and facilities, and deeper engagement with the Northern Virginia community.

His success and extensive college basketball background made Lewis an easy choice when the opening as the committee’s A-10 representative unexpectedly came up last spring. His appointment also marked the first time George �鶹��Ƶ has had a representative on the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Committee.

Lewis now gets to experience March Madness again, this time from a vastly different vantage point. Following the announcement of the NCAA field, he’ll attend tournament games at various sites before heading to the Women’s Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona.

“For a basketball junkie,” he said, “it doesn’t get much better.”

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Schar School’s Aly Rayle Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 14:24:37 +0000

Schar School’s Aly Rayle Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year Andrew J Schappert Thu, 07/13/2023 - 10:24

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Schar School of Policy and Government student athlete Aly Rayle has been nominated for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Rayle, who is enrolled in the Schar School’s Global Commerce and Policy master’s program, is a standout pitcher on �鶹��Ƶ’s softball team, which won its first-ever Atlantic 10 conference championship in the season that concluded in June. She is the first Schar School student to be nominated for the honor.

Rayle, who was named A-10 Pitcher of the Year, helped the team to the championship with a 19-9 record, posting a 2.01 ERA. She set the all-time single-season strikeouts record and became the only Patriot pitcher to have struck out 200 batters in a single season. She led the conference in overall strikeouts (242) and looking strikeouts (72). She finished the A-10 tournament with a 4-1 record, pitching 33 innings and recording 39 strikeouts to earn the A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player award.

The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was created in 1991 to celebrate the achievements of women in intercollegiate athletics. Now in its 33rd year, the award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service, and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

Rayle, who came to �鶹��Ƶ after an undergraduate career at the University of Virginia, has set softball records in her one year as a Patriot. She is tied for first in no-hitters pitched (3) alongside Lisa Davis (1997-2000) and Marsha Boyd (1990-93), who both took four years to reach the same goal. Her 2.01 ERA puts her tied for seventh all-time with Shannon Hiltner (1997-99).

In addition in her master’s degree studies, the Herndon, Virginia native has been a leader in the softball program’s community relations efforts, donating countless hours of to a variety of causes, including mentoring students in �鶹��Ƶ softball's partnership with Willow Springs Elementary.

In her four years at UVA, Rayle volunteered with Virginia's youth at the Madison's House, the Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia at summer camps, and as a “buddy runner” at the local Girls on the Run races. She has been involved with the Capital Area Food Bank at both schools, packaging boxes of food for families in need.

Rayle has experiences on leadership councils and advisory committees, having been elected to Athletics Advisory Council for the 2019-20 school year and served on the team Leadership Council for two years.

—Additional Reporting by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

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Retro �鶹��Ƶ: Women's Soccer Championship 1985

ckearney — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 17:01:47 +0000

Retro �鶹��Ƶ: Women's Soccer Championship 1985 ckearney Thu, 04/28/2022 - 13:01

On Nov. 24, 1985, �鶹��Ƶ women's soccer defeated North Carolina 2-0 to claim the first-ever NCAA National Championship at �鶹��Ƶ. Pictured here from left, women’s soccer team members Sis Koskinen, Pam Baughman, and Meg Romaine lift the trophy. �鶹��Ƶ was the host for the Final Four championship games, and the team played in front of a record crowd of 4,500. Baughman, who was voted MVP, said of the tournament, "I wanted to win the championship, but I really wanted my teammates and my coaches to be champions and they all deserved it. This was my motivation to work hard in training and to play my best in the games."

Find out more about the championship here. Read an interview with Baughman here.

Kim Crabbe played right fullback for the �鶹��Ƶ women’s soccer team that season. It was during that championship game that she caught the attention of Anson Dorrance, head coach of North Carolina, the opposing team, who also happened to be scouting for the women's national team. In 1986, Crabbe became the first Black woman called up to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Read more about her story.

Photo credit: Image was originally published in the �鶹��Ƶ Magazine. �鶹��Ƶ Archives, University Publications, University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center.

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Supreme Court ruling against NCAA is limited in scope, �鶹��Ƶ professor says

ckearney — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 17:36:19 +0000

Supreme Court ruling against NCAA is limited in scope, �鶹��Ƶ professor says ckearney Tue, 07/06/2021 - 13:36

Craig Esherick

The unanimous U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling limiting the NCAA’s ability to restrict education-related benefits to athletes won’t have as broad an impact as some news outlets are reporting, said Craig Esherick, former Georgetown University men’s basketball coach, lawyer and associate professor in �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Education and Human Development.

“The Supreme Court found that the NCAA is subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act and permitted schools to award more educationally related expenses,” said Esherick, associate director for �鶹��Ƶ’s Center for Sport Management and academic program coordinator for �鶹��Ƶ’s sport management program. “But on the news, they are making it out like it is a broad ruling. The justices specifically recognized that college athletics is an intricate business relationship and gave wide berth to the NCAA and colleges’ business judgments.”

Esherick said that Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the majority opinion, made a narrow decision that still allows for the NCAA to create limits on benefits unrelated to education.

“Certainly, the ruling will permit colleges to award their athletes more educationally related expenses, like graduate school scholarships or technology used for school work, but the justices also specifically said that doesn’t mean a college can buy someone a Lamborghini to drive to class,” Esherick said.

Esherick also commented on the NCAA’s recent decision to officially suspend rules that prohibited athletes from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses. The new rules represent a major shift for the NCAA. The decision came hours before laws or executive orders in six states that would have had the same impact were set to take effect.

“There are going to be some athletes that will be able to make a large amount of money now,” Esherick said. “It will be interesting to see what that dynamic brings to athletes playing a team sport.”

Esherick also warned that student athletes shouldn’t ignore the most important financial benefit they get—for those on a full scholarship, a free education.

“The concern I have is that athletes will be spending so much time building up their social media presence that it will detract from their work in math or English class,” Esherick said.

To reach Craig Esherick directly, please contact him at cesheric@gmu.edu

For more information, contact Anna Stolley Persky at apersky@gmu.edu

�鶹��Ƶ George �鶹��Ƶ

�鶹��Ƶ is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., �鶹��Ƶ enrolls 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. �鶹��Ƶ has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Learn more at gmu.edu

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