Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA who spent 36 years leading and shaping the organization, has died. He was 93.
Byers died Tuesday at his home in Emmett, Kansas, when a urinary tract infection spread into his bloodstream, son Fritz said Wednesday.
A main part of Byers' job when he started as NCAA executive director in 1951 was to help the schools maintain strict control of all revenues the athletes generated. He helped invent the now widely used term ''student-athlete,'' which he said was intended to disguise the fact that players had become de facto professionals.
He led the way in dealing with television as a main source of income and was a big proponent of having the NCAA oversee women's athletics as well.
Byers was 29 years old when he was hired by the NCAA. The offices opened in Kansas City, Missouri, with five employees. When he retired in 1987, the NCAA had about 150 full-time employees and its membership had grown from 381 schools to 1,003.
