Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker next NCAA president

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a former Harvard basketball player, will be the next president of the NCAA.

Baker, a Republican, will leave office on Jan. 5 after declining to seek a third term, despite being consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most popular governors.

He will start as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association on March 1, according to The Athletic, which first reported the move.

Baker will succeed Mark Emmert. And he will be succeeded in the Massachusetts governor’s office by Democrat Maura Healey, a former college and professional basketball player and the state's attorney general.

"I am honored to become the next president of the NCAA, an organization that impacts millions of families and countless communities across this country every day," Baker said in a statement released by the NCAA. "The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge. And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come."

Linda Livingstone, Baylor University president and chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, who led the presidential search committee, said in a statement that Baker "has shown a remarkable ability to bridge divides and build bipartisan consensus, taking on complex challenges in innovative and effective ways. As a former student-athlete himself, husband to a former college gymnast, and father to two former college football players, Governor Baker is deeply committed to our student-athletes and enhancing their collegiate experience. These skills and perspective will be invaluable as we work with policymakers to build a sustainable model for the future of college athletics."

Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), a former Division 1 volleyball player who’s been an advocate for college athletes in Congress, said in a statement that Baker’s “experience as a college basketball player coupled with his extensive career spanning both the public and private sectors will serve him well in this position.”