| Friday, May 8, 2026 |
| Vasey out, Fisackerly in as LINK CEO | |
 | Less than two months into his tenure as CEO, the Golden Triangle Development LINK has parted ways with Iian Vasey. Meryl Fisackerly was appointed CEO, effective immediately, following Vasey stepping down from the role, according to a LINK Executive Committee press release issued Thursday afternoon. Fisackerly, previously the chief operations officer for the LINK, has worked for the region's industrial recruitment arm for seven years. She served as interim following Joe Max Higgins' firing last August. She had applied for the CEO position before the LINK hired Vasey. "Meryl has had a successful tenure at the LINK and has built strong, meaningful relationships across the region," Board Chairman Bain Nickels said in the press release. "She understands our communities, our assets, and our partners well, and we are confident in her ability to lead this organization going forward." Vasey joined the LINK in March after stints in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Klamath Falls, Oregon. |
SPORTS
| NCAA men's, women's basketball tournaments expand to 76 teams | |
 | The men's and women's NCAA basketball tournaments are expanding to 76 teams, the NCAA announced Thursday. It is the first time the men's tournament has expanded since 2011, and the first time the women's tournament has expanded since 2022. "Expanding the Division I men's and women's basketball championships is the right decision for the student-athletes and programs that will now have access to the greatest events in college sports," said Tim Sands, chair of the Division I board of directors and the president at Virginia Tech. "As NCAA leaders, we are especially excited to provide additional, highly competitive games for fans who look forward to March Madness every year." Movement toward expanding the NCAA tournament has been ongoing for more than three years, as the College Football Playoff expanded and college athletics contended with conference realignment and the growth of the four biggest conferences. In January 2023, the NCAA Division I board of directors approved a transformation committee's recommendation to expand all sports' championship events to include 25% of teams. The men's basketball committee began discussing expanding the field that summer. |
| Congress must secure the future of college sports | |
 | NCAA President Charlie Baker writes for The Hill: There is a tremendous amount of change reshaping college sports -- and much of it for good reason. For too long, college sports were too slow to modernize. But in recent years, we have worked to transform our system with tremendous speed. Schools are now directing approximately $1 billion a year in new financial benefits to student-athletes. Division I schools must now provide student-athletes with healthcare, enhanced resources in areas like mental health, and guaranteed scholarships. And on top of all of this, we are focused on continuing to increase the current record-breaking levels of student-athlete participation, scholarship support, and fan interest. But as college sports continue to transform from the inside, other changes risk undermining opportunities for the more than 554,000 student-athletes who together receive more than $4 billion in scholarships annually. The most acute risks facing college sports broadly can be grouped into two categories: the destruction of common-sense eligibility limits, and the threat that student-athletes are broadly forced to become university employees. |
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