BYU’s Darger to lead NCAA Women’s Basketball Committee
Liz Darger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received a bachelor's degree in family sciences and a master's degree in school counseling psychology, both from Brigham Young University. Darger works as the senior associate athletic director at BYU. She served as a part-time service missionary in LDS Distribution Services from 2003 to 2004. Darger also volunteers on the leadership team of the NCAA Common Ground initiative.
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- BYU senior associate athletic director Liz Darger talks while panelists Camille Johnson (center) and Diljeet Taylor listen during the BYU-Big 12 women’s empowerment event at the Marriott Center in Provo on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023.
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Liz Darger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received a bachelor’s degree in family sciences and a master’s degree in school counseling psychology, both from Brigham Young University. Darger works as the senior associate athletic director at BYU. She served as a part-time service missionary in LDS Distribution Services from 2003 to 2004. Darger also volunteers on the leadership team of the NCAA Common Ground initiative.
BYU Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator Liz Darger is perhaps the biggest unsung hero of the school’s athletic department, playing a vital but largely behind-the-scenes role.
Now, she’s stepping forward into the spotlight.
Darger has been elected serve as the chair of the 2026-27 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. In preparation for that role, Darger will serve as vice chair of the committee for the coming 2025-26 season. Darger has been a member of the committee since 2024.
“It has been a privilege to serve on the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, and I am honored by the trust my peers have placed in me to serve as vice-chair this year and chair in 2026-27,” Darger said. “I look forward to supporting Amanda Braun as we strategically navigate an exciting time of growth in Division I women’s basketball with wisdom and care. I am grateful for the encouragement and support of BYU Athletic Director Brian Santiago and am excited to continue serving a sport–and its student-athletes–that mean so much to me.”
The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee reviews and, when necessary, provide recommendations in the following areas pertaining to administration of the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship: team selection [including seeding, bracketing, NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), site selection [including first and second rounds, regional round and Women’s Final Four], championship operations and games management, championship misconduct issues and championship official selection and advancement. The Committee is charged with selecting the 37 at-large teams which will join the 31 conference automatic qualifiers that are included in the annual 68-team championship bracket.
The 2025-26 committee will be chaired by Amanda Braun, while along with Darger she will be joined by Vicky Chun of Yale; Amy Folan of Central Michigan; Josh Heird of Louisville; Jeff Konya of San Jose State; Marvin Lewis of George Mason; Jill Redmond of the Missouri Valley Conference; Ashleigh Simmons of Western Carolina; Candice Storey Lee of Vanderbilt; and Lynn Tighe of Villanova. One committee member position is still to be determined.
Darger has served as BYU’s senior woman administrator since she started at BYU in 2015. In that role, she serves on the Big 12 Conference’s executive SWA committee. She has been a sport administrator for multiple teams and is a member of the NCAA Common Ground Leadership Team, tasked with exploring how representatives of faith-based and LGBTQ communities can work more cohesively in college sports and higher education to model respect for all. Darger has previous experience as assistant women’s basketball coach at Utah Valley from 2009-15 and also coached high school basketball.
