(November 24, 1944 – September 5, 2020) He is the man who made the madness.  Tom Jernstedt has lived an incredible career in athletic management including helping to grow the NCAA basketball tournament into the spectacle it is today.

Jernstedt came of age in Washington County farm country in the early 1960s.  He was a three-sport athlete at Yamhill-Carlton high school and was the ace of the Tigers pitching staff, throwing 4 no-hitters.

It was his leadership on the football field that took him to the University of Oregon as a quarterback.  You will not find much of Tom in Duck game films from that era, but he definitely made an impression on coach Len Casanova.

Soon after graduation, Casanova called him back to Eugene to become the Ducks’ Event Manager.

Jernstedt was good at it, running Hayward Field and Mac Court, getting tickets and concessions sold.

In 1972, the NCAA came calling and one year later, a very nervous Tom Jernstedt was managing the basketball championships.  That was before it was even known as the “Final 4”.

As the NCAA’s director of events and later, executive vice president, Jernstedt had a hand in every aspect of March Madness.  Today’s lucrative media contracts, sponsorships, venue choices and the process of selecting the teams all bear his fingerprints.

In the middle of his 38-year run with the NCAA, the sport of basketball needed some help and Tom was there, leading a key reset within USA basketball.  Olympic gold and world championships would follow.

Another door opened after Jernstedt left the NCAA in 2011, he was an original member of the college football playoff committee. 

Tom’s list of honors and awards seems more than possible for one man to achieve, capped by membership in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Always grateful for his rich life in sport, we welcome Tom Jernstedt to Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.