By Sarah Moomaw, News Staff

The NCAA announced Wednesday that Northeastern Athletic Director Peter Roby has been named to the Division I Men’s Basketball Selection Committee.

“It’s a great situation and great opportunity for Northeastern. I’m just so proud to be at Northeastern at this time and to have Northeastern benefit with any connection to Division 1 men’s basketball,” Roby said in a phone interview with The News on Wednesday.

The Selection Committee is responsible for divvying out seeding and at-large bids for the March Madness National Championship Tournament at the end of the regular season. Roby fills an opening created by the departure of Bernard Muir, director of athletics at Stanford University.

“Peter brings a wealth of basketball experience to the committee, having been a Division I student-athlete, a coach and now an administrator,” Selection Committee Chair and Director of Athletics at Xavier Mike Bobinski said in a statement. “We look forward to his contributions to our group.”

The opportunity comes as a result of ensuring a conference balance on the Selection Committee. Muir is in his first year at Stanford after stepping down from the same position at Colonial Athletic Association foe University of Delaware, opening the seat.

“I was fortunate enough to be chosen by the administration cabinet that appoints committee members,” Roby said.

Come spring, if Northeastern is eligible for an at-large bid, policy stands that any committee member attached to a university must remove themselves from the discussion, meaning Roby would have to step out while the Huskies’ fate was on the table.

“I hope that Northeastern would be an automatic qualifier where it makes it easy and it’s just about seeding, or if we are in fact going to be in the discussion for an at-large, then that would be a great thing for us,” he said.

College basketball has been a longtime staple for Roby. He suited up for the Dartmouth College Big Green while pursuing his bachelor’s degree in government. Upon graduating in 1979, he took his athletic career to the sidelines with assistant coaching positions at Stanford, Dartmouth, Army and Harvard. His appointment at Harvard blossomed into a head coaching career of six seasons.

After a stint in the corporate world as vice president of US marketing for Reebok, Roby came to Northeastern as the director of Sport in Society, before replacing former-Athletic Director Dave O’Brien in 2007.

This appointment with the Selection Committee appears to bring his college basketball career full circle, but to a point he could have never imagined.

“I would have never given myself that kind of hope. I’ve always admired the work of the committee,” Roby said. “I’ve had a number of coach-friends and some of my closest mentors … so I’ve got a sense of what that experience is like and they’ve always talked about how much they’ve enjoyed the experience.”

Roby has led the Husky athletic programs for the last five years. In his tenure, he’s had the hard task of replacing head coaches and the decision to cut the football program after the 2009 season. The knack of making hard choices will come into play during selection time, Roby said.

“You base it on what the facts are, get as much data as you can to make the decision,” he said. “You try to not let the outside distractions influence what’s needed in terms of making a fair decision … You have to understand how important the selection is to every individual team and every coach that is being considered, and you have to understand that you are serving the interest in the Division 1 membership and it’s not your own personal interest, but the interest of others. That is what makes it a such humbling opportunity.”

In an email to The News, Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun commended Roby’s appointment to the committee based on his understanding of student-athletes and the hard work they put forth.

“Peter Roby knows what makes student-athletes successful both in the game and in the classroom. He understands how their accomplishments are as important to the university as the university’s support is for their successes both on and off the field.”

Instead of watching March Madness’ Selection Sunday at home with his wife as in past years, Roby said he will be living it in Indianapolis, Ind., as he and the committee are responsible for seeding and selecting the final schools through at-large bids.

“It’s such a great spectacular and really is a true national tournament, all levels of the NCAA Division 1 are represented,” Roby said. “I’m honored. I’m humbled. It’s a great thing to be able to add to my career experiences and I can’t wait to get started.”