Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple Announces his Retirement

Tom Douple has been instrumental in the growth and development of the Summit League. After 16 years, Douple will step down from the commissioner chair.

The Summit League has announced that Douple will step down as commissioner of the league and head into retirement as of October 1, 2021. Douple took over the job in September of 2005 and rebranded the "Mid-Continent Conference" into the Summit League.

During his tenure, Douple helped reshape the league with eight new members and two returning members. South Dakota State, North Dakota State, University of South Dakota, University of North Dakota, Denver, St. Thomas, Omaha, and Purdue Fort Wayne all joined the Summit League with Douple in charge. Kansas City and Oral Roberts all returned to the league following stints with other conferences. As of today, only Purdue Fort Wayne is no longer with the Summit League.

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Locally, Douple was instrumental in helping the city of Sioux Falls grow. With the success of the tournaments inside of the Sioux Falls Arena, the Summit League was a pillar event that helped the city move forward with building the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The success of the tournaments inside of the PREMIER Center has led to Sioux Falls also hosting multiple NCAA events since 2015. Today, the Summit League headquarters are located in Sioux Falls at the Sanford Sports Complex.

Myndee Kay Larsen has been named as the interim commissioner of the Summit League. She has been the deputy commissioner since March 2018.