ASU president Michael Crow on Larry Scott: ‘We’ll see where we are’

ASU president Michael Crow wants to make a determination later on extending Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott’s contract.

Crow, speaking to Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta, said he’d have to consider all aspects of Scott’s job performance before committing to an extension.

“I’ve been a supporter of Larry’s since we hired him 11 years ago or so. And he’s done a good job professionalizing the staff of the conference,” Crow said. “He delivered the first meaningful contract arrangement that we had. He moved us into higher levels of performance and like anything or anyone in one of these roles, we’re going to look at performance and look at roles.

“I don’t know when his contract’s coming up within the next year and a half or so and we’ll take a look at where we are and where we need to go and what we need to do, and we’ll see where we are.”

Crow continued to dodge how he viewed Scott’s long-term job security later on in the interview, telling co-host Vince Marotta that he’s yet to lose faith in the embattled commissioner.

“Losing confidence wouldn’t be the right word, but taking a serious look at where we are and how to move forward, like any job including my job, you serve at the pleasure,” Crow said. “And so, anyone that’s in one of these jobs has to find a way to deal with new board members, new presidents, new chancellors, just like I have to deal with newly appointed representatives of the people in the Regents.

“And that’s a tough process and one that Larry’s been working at and one where we’ll see where all of this goes in the months ahead.”

Scott’s contract runs through 2022, though a decision on his future with the conference would need to be made before the conference’s current media rights deal expires in 2024-25.

Such negotiations typically take between 18 and 21 months, according to San Jose Mercury News reporter Jon Wilner.

Scott’s deal expires in two years, but the window is somewhat condensed, sources said, by the timing of the Pac-12’s media rights agreements.

Although the deals with ESPN and Fox run into the spring of 2024, formal negotiations likely would commence 18-21 months earlier, in the fall of 2022 — or just after Scott’s current contract expires.

It doesn’t sound like Crow is ready to make a call on Scott’s future, one way or another, based on his comments on Friday.

Follow @cgboan