Thursday marked a new beginning for college sports, and Jordan Acker, too.
Just as collegiate student-athletes were finally allowed to pitch for companies and profit off their personal brands Thursday, Acker launched his term as the University of Michigan Board of Regents chairman.
The timing of the two events was coincidental — but also fitting: Acker is a sports junkie and basketball fanatic. The 36-year-old was also raised in the digital age, with progressive views. An attorney by trade, Acker is a proponent of the name, image and likeness (or NIL, for short) movement that has detonated the NCAA’s amateurism model and created a different dimension.