Val Ackerman, the founding WNBA president and Big East commissioner for the past 13 years, announced on Monday that she will retire from her position effective August 31, 2026. It marks the end of an era for the basketball-centric conference, but noy every fan is mourning the departure.In her announcement, Ackerman expressed gratitude for her time leading the conference and working with its member institutions.

“It’s been an extraordinary honor for me to serve as the Commissioner of one of the most prestigious and storied organizations in college sports,” Ackerman said in a statement. “With our long-term business deals securely in place and knowing we have strong, focused leadership on our campuses, I am confident that the future of the conference, and BIG EAST basketball in particular, is very bright, and I believe the time is right for me to hand off the baton.”

Ackerman was hired in 2013 to lead the reconstituted Big East after its football-playing schools departed to form the American Athletic Conference. She took over what was essentially a startup, a basketball-centric conference that needed credibility, infrastructure, and a vision to compete with power football leagues.

Under her leadership, the conference delivered on its basketball-first promise. Big East schools won combined men’s and women’s national championships during her tenure, including Villanova’s back-to-back men’s titles in 2016 and 2017 and UConn’s men’s titles in 2023 and 2024.

With all she did for the conference, Val Ackerman also received major support from the university presidents. She didn’t hesitate to express gratitude to her allies in her statement. “I want to thank our Presidents for entrusting me with this one-of-a-kind leadership opportunity and for supporting the investments needed to maintain the BIG EAST’s stature and meet our schools’ high competitive and academic standards,” Ackerman stated.

But this long journey wasn’t without its hurdles, especially during the tumultuous stretch she oversaw the conference. A section of the hoops community held on to these sentiments to vent their frustration on Ackerman amid her departure from the commissioner’s seat.

Not Everyone is celebrating Ackerman’s Legacy

“Great news! She was horrible,” a fan wrote.

“Thank God…need strong leadership now in this NIL money grab everywhere era….” remarked another. 

For all her accomplishments, Ackerman faced persistent criticism on several fronts. The loudest has been about expansion. Critics argued that the Big East needs to add members to compete financially with Power 4 conferences, which are pulling in massive football revenue.

The Big East remains a basketball-only conference with no football revenue to speak of, and whether Ackerman did enough to address that gap is up for debate. Officiating quality in conference tournaments has also been a recurring complaint, and while that falls under the commissioner’s umbrella, it’s worth noting that officiating issues are hardly unique to the Big East.

“She did her job. Screwed UConn and the Big East from another title. Thank you. Now she’ll get a job in the big 10,” stated another. 

That criticism doesn’t actually hold up. Ackerman was the one who negotiated UConn’s return to the Big East in 2019, bringing back one of the conference’s charter members and instantly elevating its basketball credibility. UConn has since won multiple national titles as in the Big East.

“Thank god. Didn’t do anything for the conference,” chimed in another. 

“Now the BE needs to hire a good commissioner,” another netizen summed up. 

Dismissing Ackerman’s contributions outright ignores the record. The FOX broadcasting deal, the MSG partnership for the men’s tournament, and UConn’s return are all tangible wins on her watch.

“When we re-founded the BIG EAST in 2013 as a basketball-centric conference, our first task was to find a commissioner who could provide the strategic vision needed to position us as a basketball peer with the power football conferences and compete with the country’s best. We found that visionary leader in Val Ackerman,” Rev. Brian J. Shanley of St. John’s University said.

Whether the Big East did enough under Ackerman to position itself for the long-term financial arms race in college athletics is a fair question. But the conference enters this transition in a stronger place than where she found it. A national search for Ackerman’s successor is already underway and whoever takes the job will inherit both credibility and the challenges she leaves behind.