Greg Sankey once kept his desk tidy for an entire month – and it changed his life.
The prize for the Auburn, New York, sixth-grader who kept his desk the cleanest was a book by legendary UCLA coach John Wooden titled, “They Call Me Coach.” Sankey really wanted that book, and once victory was his, he read it. And read it. And read it.
The book, which is as much about achieving life success as athletics success, became something Sankey would refer to often during the next 30 years as he moved around the country coaching, teaching, transforming himself into an administrator and eventually rising to a position at the high-profile Southeastern Conference.
Sankey came to the SEC from the commissioner’s post at the Southland Conference, a job he loved with people he enjoyed. In his 20s when the league hired him away from Northwestern State, Sankey says he matured at the Southland, first as assistant commissioner for compliance and moving through the ranks until the league presidents named him commissioner in 1996.
Six years later, he moved to the SEC offices in Birmingham, Alabama.
“I felt I was at a stage in my life where there was an opportunity for a new challenge, an opportunity for growth,” he said.
He got that opportunity his first week, during which he was threatened with legal action three times for the conference’s application of a men’s tennis tournament exception. Those tense conversations concerning what would not have been such a big issue at the Southland showed Sankey he was playing a very different ballgame at the SEC.
“If I had listed the reasons to move – and one of those was to learn and be challenged – I was quite certain I’d fulfill that every single day,” he said. “And I think that’s probably been true.”
Sankey has drawn on those experiences while serving on various NCAA committees and, most specifically, assisting in the recent reorganization of the Division I governance structure as an ad hoc member of a membership subcommittee.
“The roles I’ve served in have dovetailed nicely with what I do here now, the day-to-day work of the SEC and the committee work,” he said. “In my first job (at Utica College), I watched a school transition from Division I to Division III. When I was on the Management Council, I started asking more questions (about membership) because I knew from that experience that not everyone fits the Division I expectations, nor does the Division I model fit every university.”
The questions Sankey inevitably asks in committee meetings often come with a dry, self-deprecating wit. He always seems to have an astute and entertaining observation, usually followed by a question or comment that gets to the heart of the question at hand.
“Some of that stuff is hard, and it hurts your head, and there’s data and issues and various levels of relationships,” Sankey said. “If you walked in carrying the burden of what you did, it wouldn’t be a very enjoyable experience. Plus, I watch life every day, and I’m amused by some of the things we all do, mainly by myself.”
Sankey watches his own life with a critical eye as well. As commissioner of the Southland, he was often troubled by the amount of time he spent away from his family. He decided to study how high-powered executives in different industries balance their lives and eventually read a book that convinced him balance is too slight a goal for a fulfilled life.
“There’s an implication with the word ‘balance’ that you’re trying to minimize both sides of a scale,” he said. “The reality is that there are not just two sides to the scale and you’re never going to achieve joy or fulfillment by trying to balance.”
But he’s learned to set priorities. He’s finished 22 marathons and is scheduled to run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., for the second time this November. His first Marine Corps Marathon was 20 years ago – the day after he and wife Cathy were married.
Last summer, the Sankey family saw baseball games in 18 stadiums all across the country. His two daughters have served as ball kids for the SEC softball tournament.
And his wife? He says she “tolerates” his career. But of all the people he gave that Wooden book to in his life, she was the one who finished it.
And she was the one he married.
Sankey’s NCAA committee service