The University of Connecticut athletic department should be playing very close attention to what's happening at the Big East conference offices.

On Thursday, the league formally announced that its begun its search for a new league commissioner. Current commissioner Val Ackerman is retiring in April. Ackerman is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame (2021).

Ben Portnoy of the Sports Business Journal outlined a long list of accomplishments that show just how influential Ackerman has been to the conference, and what a hole she'll leave behind.

Ackerman, a 2011 SBJ Champion and member of the Influence 125 list in December, was almost single-handedly responsible for resurrecting the Big East; served as the WNBA’s first commissioner; and has been a massively influential voice in college basketball circles over the last 15 years. Her work has included everything from major television deals with Fox, NBC and TNT to intimate work in getting the NCAA to permit NIL for players.

First off, it's simply good practice to be aware of what's happening in your league office, as your league office is in constant communication with your athletic department.

Second off, the league office helps control revenue streams for the league members and helps elevate the league's national footprint, something Ackerman has clearly done. And at a time when revenue is so crucial to college sports because of NIL, it will be important to UConn that the next commissioner excel in developing corporate and television partnerships to create more of that revenue stream.

Remember earlier this month when college basketball insider Jon Rothstein said that he thinks UConn would leave the Big East if it got a call from the ACC or the Big Ten? The next commissioner will be tasked with making sure the conference is in good enough shape that the Huskies don't want to leave for any reason at any time.

Once again, that means helping increase the national footprint for the Big East and helping create revenue streams for member schools. Furthermore, the Huskies should also be hoping the next commissioner raises the profile so that the league can get stronger, which benefits the Huskies schedules and NCAA Tournament resumes in multiple sports.

As noted by Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68, the league is looking at Dan Gavitt and Jordan Bazant. Gavittt is the senior vice president of basketball for the entire NCAA and the former athletic director at Bryant. He is also a former assistant basketball coach at Providence. He's overseen the television contracts for the NCAA Tournament, so he certainly knows how to benefit basketball, which is clearly of importance to UConn.

Bazant is the executive vice president at Fox Sports for business development and media.

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