Preparing for Kick Off: Athletics Issues for 2025-2026

Scott Bearby serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Bearby leads enterprise legal strategy for legal affairs, government relations and hearing operations. 

The office of legal affairs handles numerous legal responsibilities for the Association, including managing litigation involving the national office and supporting its governance and sport committees, 90 championships, and national office staff in assisting the membership and student-athletes. 

Bearby was named Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel in August 2016 after serving in various legal positions at the national office since January 1999. 

Before joining the NCAA, Bearby spent six years in private practice. A native of Hammond, Indiana, he earned his bachelor’s degree in government from Notre Dame and his law degree from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Nathan (“Nate”) LaVallee serves as Deputy General Counsel at the University of Connecticut within the Office of the General Counsel. He provides legal services and advice in connection with the many issues affecting the University. 

Nate has spent more than 16 years working in the public law sector and has primarily served as in-house counsel to New England’s two largest public flagship universities. Nate has extensive experience in regulatory compliance, legislative initiatives, and other higher education legal matters including FERPA, student discipline, NIL, and public record laws. He also has experience creating and executing critical university strategies, agreements, and transactions necessary to address key business issues. He often presents locally and nationally on topics concerning higher education. 

Before joining UConn, Nate was Associate General Counsel for the University of Massachusetts, where he handled the full range of higher education issues. Nate has also represented municipal and state agencies in a variety of legal matters in State and Federal Courts as well as before state commissions and other regulatory bodies. 

TaRonda Randall is Senior Counsel at Husch Blackwell. Clients count on TaRonda’s broad background in collegiate athletics and sound legal judgment to address complex and evolving NCAA compliance, legal, and regulatory issues in college athletics. 

TaRonda provides college and university clients with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with collegiate athletics. TaRonda brings invaluable experience to her private practice, having served in the athletic departments of major public universities and as a postgraduate intern with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) National Office. 

She understands the complex regulatory issues colleges and universities face. She assists clients by analyzing NCAA legislation, drafting, and submitting waivers and violations of NCAA bylaws, conducting athletics compliance assessments and independent investigations related to student-athlete welfare issues, as well as advising institutions on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion and Title IX equity in athletics. She has witnessed firsthand the rapid evolution of novel challenges in connection with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and related areas. 

 TaRonda’s passion for the regulation and governance of collegiate athletics extends back to her undergraduate education. As a student-athlete at a Division I institution, she competed as a member of her school’s basketball team, serving as a team captain and Vice-President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

Tammi Wong is Principal Counsel on the General Education Affairs and Governance team at the University of California, Office of the President.  Tammi advises on a variety of issues involving student programs and services including athletics, students of concern, financial aid and scholarships, FERPA and nondiscrimination across the UC system, including response to agency investigations.    

Prior to joining the University of California, Tammi was a Senior Deputy General Counsel at the San Francisco Unified School District focusing on student matters, and a Senior Attorney at the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) with a focus on Title IX and athletics, Title VI hostile environment, and Title II physical access.  Tammi began her legal career at Legal Services of Northern California working with parents and students to advocate for access to high quality public education.