Northwestern University Athletics
Barracato Named to NCAA Women's Basketball Committee
5/14/2020 10:30:00 AM | General, Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Deneé Barracato, Northwestern's Deputy Director of Athletics for Operations & Capital Projects, begins a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee starting in September of 2020.
Barracato is one of nine members on the committee, with a 10th to be filled by an Ohio Valley Conference representative. Duke Senior Deputy Director of Athletics and Administration Nina King will chair the committee in the 2020-2021 academic year. Barracato's appointment runs from Sept. 1, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2025.
"Our entire Wildcats family is extremely proud of Deneè's appointment to the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee," said Combe Family Vice President for Athletics & Recreation Jim Phillips. "Her lifelong commitment to the game and her professional commitment to a world-class student-athlete experience make her a perfect fit to help build one of the preeminent events in sports. She'll be a tremendous representative of Northwestern and the Big Ten Conference."
"I am extremely honored and humbled to be appointed to the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee," said Barracato. "It is a privilege to represent Northwestern University and the Big Ten Conference, and to have the opportunity to serve the NCAA, its member institutions and the student-athletes. I am looking forward to joining committee chair Nina King and a very talented selection committee in organizing one of sports' most distinguished events. On a personal level, this is a full-circle moment having worked on the NCAA staff as a liaison to the committee earlier in my career. I am eager to pick up where I left off, from assisting in the management of the 2009 Women's Final Four in San Antonio, to now planning for the 2021 Women's Final Four in the same great city."
The 10-member NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee is responsible for selecting the 32 best at-large teams for the championship and seeding the 64-team field that will be participating in the NCAA tournament. The committee also is involved in site selection (first and second rounds, the regional round and Women's Final Four), championship operations and game management, championship misconduct issues and championship game official selection and advancement.
School and conference administrators are nominated by their conference, serve five-year terms and represent a cross-section of the Division I membership. Committee members spend countless hours evaluating teams during the regular season. They are expected to be experts on the teams within their assigned regions while maintaining a broad-based knowledge of Division I basketball.
Barracato brings a wealth of experience to the committee as she previously served as the NCAA's Associate Director of Division I Women's Basketball. During her time in that role she was a liaison to the Division I Women's Basketball Committee and championship hosts sites, assisting with the planning and execution of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship and Women's Final Four.
Following her time at the NCAA office, Barracato's next role was with Madison Square Garden as the Director of Partnership Strategy and Service. She worked closely with the New York Knicks and New York Liberty as she remained dedicated to the sport of basketball.
Barracato then spent four years as the Associate A.D. for Finance & Administration at Queens College before becoming the Director of Athletics & Recreation at York College (NY), a position she held for three years before joining Northwestern in the summer of 2019.
Barracato was a four-year letterwinner at Hofstra, and during her junior season she led Division I women's basketball in steals and earned America East All-Conference honors. Following graduation, she played professionally in the Women's Professional League in Puerto Rico for The Saints of San Juan, as well as with the National Women's Basketball League as a member of the Atlanta Justice.
2020-2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Selection Committee Roster
- Deneé Barracato, Deputy Director of Athletics for Operations & Capital Projects, Northwestern University
- Ceal Barry, Deputy Athletics Director, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Greg Burke, Director of Athletics, Northwestern State University
- Marcy Girton, Chief Operating Officer, Auburn University
- Jill Shields, Deputy Athletics Director/SWA, Kansas State University
- Nina King, Senior Deputy Director of Athletics/Administration, Legal Affairs and Chief of Staff, Duke University (Committee chair)
- Beth Goetz, Director of Athletics, Ball State University
- TBD, Ohio Valley Conference
- Debbie Richardson, Senior Associate Commissioner, Atlantic 10 Conference
- Tamica Smith Jones, Director of Athletics, University of California, Riverside
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