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• About the Dick Enberg Award

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Knight Commission's Amy Privette Perko Selected for Distinguished CoSIDA 2020 Dick Enberg Award

The CEO of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and a former Wake Forest All-America and Academic All-America basketball standout, is recognized for promoting the values of education and academics, hallmarks of the Enberg Award.

Amy Privette Perko, Chief Executive Officer of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and a former All-America and Academic All-America® basketball standout at Wake Forest University, is the recipient of the 2020 Dick Enberg Award presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

A recognized leader on college sports issues and college sports reform, Perko has served at the Knight Commission, a leading independent voice looking at issues in academics and the collegiate athletic model, since 2005. She held the position of executive director until October 2016 when she was named chief executive officer. As CEO, she works with an independent group of university presidents, trustees, faculty and former student-athletes who promote principles and policies to ensure that athletics programs operate within the educational mission of their universities.
 

The Dick Enberg Award, named for the late world renowned and legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster, is presented annually to a person whose actions and commitment have furthered the meaning and reach of the Academic All-America® Teams Program and/or the student-athlete while promoting the values of education and academics.
 

“Being named the Dick Enberg Award winner is an overwhelming honor because I have such tremendous respect and gratitude for Mr. Enberg’s enduring legacy of passion for education. There are so many who have contributed to my work with The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and our efforts together to support and strengthen the educational mission of college sports.

I’ll never forget meeting Mr. Enberg for the first time at the CoSIDA Academic All-America® awards ceremony my junior year and being inspired not only by his passion for education and for the Academic All-America® program but by his genuine kindness and thoughtfulness.”

- Amy Privette Perko, 2020 Dick Enberg Award recipient

The award was created in part to recognize Enberg's passion and support of the Academic All-America® program, and more importantly, his dedication to education for more than four decades.

Perko will be receive the Enberg Award during the 2020 CoSIDA Convention on Monday, June 8. The convention, in conjunction with the NACDA Convention, will be held June 7-10 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Conference Center in Las Vegas. Perko will be honored during the annual CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame induction ceremony which takes place at 5:30 pm on Monday, June 8. That ceremony is open to all CoSIDA and NACDA convention attendees.
 
“Amy Perko’s success can be measured in many ways, as an outstanding student-athlete who achieved success on the court and in the classroom, and as an influential athletic administrator who champions collegiate athletics and education with equal passion,” noted Herb Vincent, CoSIDA’s 2019-20 President and Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner/Communications. “Amy’s achievements, character and commitment to promoting the values of education make her an ideal recipient of the Dick Enberg Award.”

Among the numerous recognitions following her standout All-America and Academic All-America basketball career at Wake Forest, Perko (maiden name Amy Privette) was inducted into CoSIDA’s Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2008. Perko had graduated from Wake Forest summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1987 with a degree in history, and earned Academic All-America honors three times (First Team honors as a junior and senior after being a Third Team honoree as a sophomore). She became the first Wake Forest graduate to be inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame. In 2000, she entered the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame.
 

In January 2012, Perko received the NCAA’s prestigious Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to six former college athletes the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of their athletic career in recognition of their civic and professional contributions. In September of 2015, she was named as one of Sports Business Journal’s Game Changers, an annual honor recognizing women for their contributions to the world of professional and amateur sports.

In its work as an independent voice, the Knight Commission proposes recommendations to support and strengthen the educational missions of college sports, support fiscal responsibility, and support student-athletes’ health, safety and well-being. Among their current initiatives is work on the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) model.

During Perko’s tenure at the Knight Commission, the NCAA has adopted a number of the Commission’s recommendations. The most prominent of these actions include requiring teams to be on track to graduate 50 percent of their players to be eligible for postseason championships; and reducing athletic time demands on college athletes and revising its revenue distribution to include incentives for academic outcomes. The Knight Commission recommended all of these actions in its June 2010 report — “Restoring the Balance: Dollars, Values and the Future of College Sports.”

Serving as the Commission’s spokesperson, Perko is continually interviewed and quoted by national news media. She has been a keynote speaker and lecturer at a number of events and also presents the Commission’s work and recommendations at various meetings with higher education and college athletics leaders.
 

“Amy Perko has been an exceptional leader and achiever at all levels of her career as a student-athlete, college athletic administrator and currently as a voice of meaningful influence across the landscape of intercollegiate athletics,” said Doug Vance, CoSIDA Executive Director. “She truly meets and exceeds the Dick Enberg Award criteria as someone who has been a strong advocate of the Academic All-America® program and promoted the values of education.”

“Amy was an Academic All-America® honoree at Wake Forest, an inductee in the Academic All-America Hall of Fame® and now is just the fifth female to be honored as a Dick Enberg Award recipient. She is truly someone who has embraced the principals throughout her career of what Dick Enberg felt were important in joining with CoSIDA to create this significant honor.”

Perko has served in various leadership positions in sports for more than 25 years. Prior to her Knight Commission work, she was the first Team President named by the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2001 for one of its men’s basketball development teams, the Fayetteville Patriots. She held the Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator position at the University of Kansas (September 1996-March 2001) and also served at the NCAA as an enforcement representative for six years (1990-96).

“On behalf of the Enberg family, I am honored to present this year’s 2020 Dick Enberg Award to CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Famer Amy Perko,” said Ted Enberg, son of the late Dick Enberg. “A two-time All-ACC honoree basketball star at Wake Forest and summa cum laude graduate, Perko has continued to be a true all-star both on and off the court holding various prestigious leadership position in athletics. 

“For over 25 years, she has been a driving voice for change by striving for improved graduation rates and funding for student-athletes. Perko embodies the passion for education and then athletics that my Dad believed in and I am thrilled that she will be the fifth female recipient of the Dick Enberg Award in Las Vegas this year.”

Following her undergraduate work at Wake Forest, Perko earned a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and went on to earn a master's degree in sports management from the University of Richmond before beginning her career at the NCAA. In Dec. 2015, Perko was awarded an honorary degree from Methodist University.

As an outstanding scholar-athlete at Wake Forest University, Privette Perko was a four-year starting guard on the women's basketball team from 1984-87 and as mentioned, a three-year CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. She earned Fast Break All-America honors twice, claiming Second Team honors in 1986 and Honorable Mention honors in 1985 after being named to the Fast Break Freshman All-America Team in 1984.
 

Twice named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Team and a four-year recipient of ACC Honor Roll recognition, Perko graduated as the school's all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals. She still ranks among the top 10 players all-time in each of those categories, standing first in career steals (287). Her 1,722 career points ranking third best. She led the team in scoring and steals all four seasons and led the team in assists her last three seasons. Named Wake’s Female Athlete of the Year as a senior, she led the Demon Deacons squad in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg) and set the single season record for steals with 88.

In 2005, Perko was named to the ACC Tournament Legends Team.

Perko’s professional affiliations include serving on the United States Tennis Association’s National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) and Higher Education Committee and on the Positive Coaching Alliance’s National Advisory Board.

Outside of her Knight Commission responsibilities, Perko has been involved in numerous community and civic organizations. These include coaching youth basketball teams and service as President of the Board of Directors for the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County, an organization that administered over $10 million in grants for early childhood development and education.
 

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Previous Dick Enberg Award Recipients
 

2019   Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
2018   Bill Walton, UCLA/NBA Hall of Famer
2017   Dr. Robert Khayat, Former Chancellor, University of Mississippi
2016   Roger Staubach, United States Naval Academy/Pro Football Hall of Famer, Dallas Cowboys
2015   Andre Agassi, International Tennis Hall of Famer
2014   Ann Meyers Drysdale, Basketball Hall of Famer, UCLA/Vice President, Phoenix Mercury & Suns
2013   Mike Krzyzewski, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Duke University
2012   Joe Paterno, Head Football Coach Emeritus, Penn State University
2011   Jackie Joyner-Kersee, UCLA, United States Olympian
2010   Tom Hansen, Commissioner Emeritus, Pac-10 Conference
2009   Steve Smith, Former Basketball Standout, Michigan State & NBA
2008   Chuck Lee, CEO Emeritus, GTE Corporation
2007   Pat Summit, Head Women's Basketball Coach Emeritus, University of Tennessee
2006   Gerald R. Ford, Former U.S. President
2005   Father Theodore Hesburgh, President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame
2004   Dr. Ted Leland, Director of Athletics Emeritus, Stanford University
2003   Dr. Tom Osborne, Director of Athletics/Head Football Coach Emeritus, University of Nebraska
2002   Judge Alan Page, Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
2001   Dr. Donna Shalala, President, Clinton Foundations; former President, University of Miami/Former U.S. Secretary of Education
2000   Bill Russell, Basketball Hall of Famer, University of San Francisco/Boston Celtics
1999   Dean Smith, Head Men's Basketball Coach Emeritus, University of North Carolina
1998   John Humenik, Former CoSIDA Executive Director, University of Florida/CoSIDA Board
1997   Dick Enberg, Hall of Fame Broadcaster/National Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Award