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On Thursday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced four new members to the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.
The NCAA chose Ole Miss Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics, Keith Carter, to serve a five-year term on the council.
Basketball is not a new area for Carter; he was a former Rebel All-American basketball player, starting all four years, and continued to play professionally for nine seasons, most of which were in Italy in several American Leagues.
What is the NCAA Basketball Committee?
Tom Izzo, head coach of the Michigan State University men’s basketball team, left, and Dave Beachnau, CEO of the Detroit Local Organizing Committee, hold basketballs as they stand on stage in front of the newly unveiled logo for the 2027 NCAA Men’s Final Four inside Ford Field in Detroit on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. | David Rodriguez Muñoz / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The NCAA Basketball Committee is a 12-member panel responsible for selecting, seeding, and bracketing teams for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Committee Members track teams throughout the regular season and conference tournaments. Come Selection Sunday, the committee determines which teams earn automatic qualifications and selects remaining “at-large” teams along with a multitude of other responsibilities.
Members of the committee serve multi-year terms and are composed of athletic directors and conference commissioners from across the country. To maintain fairness, committee members must excuse themselves from discussions about their own schools or conferences.
Who is Keith Carter?
Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin with athletic director Keith Carter before the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Carter became a well-known name in college basketball, helping lead the Rebels to a pair of SEC Western Division titles in 1997 and 1998. He was named an All-American in his 1999 senior season and received all-conference honors in 1998 and 1999. His name remains etched in record books, ranking in the top ten for career points with UM on his chest, with 1,682 total points.
In 2009, Carter returned to Mississippi to join the Ole Miss Athletic Department, where he was named the executive director for Ole Miss’s Athletic Foundation. The Foundation experienced the four highest years for donations under his direction.
Following Ross Bjork’s resignation as athletic director, Carter took on the role of interim athletic director. On November 20, 2019, the term “interim” was removed, becoming a key part of the university’s athletics program. He served as the Deputy A.D. for Development and Resource Acquisition between his two roles.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter, left, hands off the championship trophy to Dylan DeLucia after a celebration of the National Champion Rebel baseball team, winners of the College World Series, at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Tcl Olemiss | Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK
Since Ole Miss Athletics appointed Carter, the department has had one of the most successful periods in Ole Miss history.
Since 2019, Ole Miss has seen two national champions, record postseason runs across all sports, four sports ranked No. 1 in the country, and its three best finishes in the Learfield College Directors’ Cup.
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