NCAA names Samford’s Martin Newton and BYU’s Liz Darger as 2026-27 basketball committee chairs

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA on Friday named the 2026-27 chairs of the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball committees and a plan to announce the top 16 seeds for the women’s tournament the day before Selection Sunday.

Samford athletic director Martin Newton will head the men’s committee and BYU senior associate athletic director Liz Darger will lead the women’s.

Newton will serve as vice chair for the coming season, supporting Sun Belt Conference commissioner and 2025-26 chair Keith Gill. Newton played basketball for Samford in the early 1980s and has served on the Division I Council and the Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee.

Darger, the women’s vice chair this year, will take over for Milwaukee athletic director and chair Amanda Braun. Darger was an assistant coach at Utah Valley for six years before going into sports administration at BYU in 2015.

The NCAA said announcing the top 16 seeds on the day before Selection Sunday would allow host sites more time to set up its tournament operations. The top 16 will be provided in alphabetical order.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports