UNC’s Cunningham to join NCAA basketball selection committee

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina athletics director Bubba Cunningham is joining the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee that selects the field for the 68-team NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA announced Cunningham’s addition Thursday. As UNC’s first-ever appointee, Cunningham begins a five-year term in September and replaces Duke athletics director Kevin White, whose term ends Aug. 31.

White had served as chairman this year before the tournament was canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic. Kentucky athletics director and committee member Mitch Barnhart will serve as chairman for the 2020-21 season.

Additionally, Toledo athletics director Mike O’Brien will remain on the committee through the 2022 tournament. He joined in September 2018, though he was originally on a two-year appointment.