Bruno To Step Down

Linda Bruno announced on Wednesday that she will step down as Commissioner of the Atlantic 10 Conference on June 30, 2008. Bruno has headed the A-10 since June 1994.

“After almost a decade-and-a-half with the Atlantic 10, I’ve decided it’s time for new challenges,” Bruno said in a press release. “I look back on the past 13 years with pride. The league has made tremendous strides, both on the field of play and off. We have strengthened our membership, strengthened our commitment to excel, and strengthened the future of the Atlantic 10.”

Bruno’s 13-year tenure featured multiple membership changes, as the basketball-oriented league dealt with the repercussions of changes in Division I football. During her time as commissioner, the A-10 lost Rutgers and West Virginia, added Virginia Tech (from 1995 to 2000), Xavier, Dayton, La Salle, and Fordham (in 1995-96), Richmond (in 2001-02), and most recently Charlotte and Saint Louis (in 2006-07).

Ironically, the league never had 10 members during Bruno’s tenure.

The A-10 also added I-AA football to its plate for a portion of Bruno’s tenure, with fulltime members UMass, Rhode Island, and Richmond joined by members of the former Yankee Conference. But the league recently backed away from football as those schools began play under the Colonial conference banner.

In recent times, Bruno has drawn criticism for the declining success of A-10 basketball and last year’s decision to sign a television contract with CSTV, which failed to gain access to several major cable providers in the first year of the deal. It’s no coincidence that Bruno did not make her announcement until after CSTV signed an expanded deal with Comcast Cable, which was announced on Tuesday.

Bruno did not announce her next professional move.