Fans will not see any white smoke coming from Indianapolis or any of the major cities around the Horizon League on Thursday afternoon. The Horizon League announced its new commissioner with the appointment of Jill Bodensteiner as the seventh commissioner in conference history.
Bodensteiner succeeds Julie Roe Lach, who served as commissioner of the Horizon League from 2021 to 2025, before leaving the league to serve as the Executive Vice President with Pacers Sports and Entertainment. Christine Neuman, Horizon League Chief Operating Officer, had served as interim commissioner since Lach left the position Dec. 1, 2025.
Introducing Jill Bodensteiner
A native of Valparaiso, Indiana, Bodensteiner comes to the Horizon League from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia — a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. She served as the Vice President and Director of Athletics for the past eight years. Prior to that role, she had worked in the athletics office at her alma mater, the University of Notre Dame for 20 years.
In addition to her work with St. Joe’s, she became a prominent figure across the NCAA landscape. She currently serves on the NCAA Division I Women’s basketball committee and Division I Council’s NIL Committee. In 2025, she was named to the Knight Commission of Intercollegiate Athletics, a group that helps lead reform to strengthen educational standards in college sports. According to the Horizon League’s press release announcing the hire, Bodensteiner also testified at the U.S. Congressional Hearing on NIL. In 2024, the Women Leaders in Sports named her as the Nike Division I Executive of the Year.
A deeper dive into Bodensteiner, on her biography section on St. Joe’s athletics page, indicates that her main focus in her role there was leading competitive excellence, creating transformative student experiences and creating a premier destination with facilities upgrades.
Highlights include positioning the school to host postseason conference championship events, as well as the 2023 Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association boys and girls basketball championships. The same year, she led the charge to launch an $84 million renovation to all facilities at the school.
In the league’s announcement of the selection, Horizon League Board of Directors Chair and Wright State University President Sue Edwards stated the following.
“On behalf of the Horizon League Board, we are thrilled to welcome Jill Bodensteiner as our next commissioner. We are confident that Jill’s experiences and knowledge make her the right person to lead our League forward in this rapidly evolving college athletics landscape,” Edwards stated.
This sentiment is echoed by Cleveland State University President and the Horizon League’s Search Committee chair Laura Bloomberg.
“We had an impressive and highly qualified pool of applicants eager to become our seventh Commissioner. Jill is a proven leader who inspired the search committee,” Bloomberg stated.
In the league’s release, Bodensteiner released the following statement.
“I am incredibly grateful to the Horizon League Board of Directors for the opportunity to lead the Horizon League as our seventh commissioner. The League is well-positioned for success, and I look forward to working with our membership to continue to develop our student-athletes for life after college athletics,” Bodensteiner stated.
What’s Next?
Bodensteiner comes to the Horizon League at an interesting time. Conferences are either expanding or falling apart, with the Horizon League in the former. Northern Illinois is coming into the league to start the 2026-27 academic year. The conference will be searching for a home for its men and women’s basketball conference tournament, with the current deal with Corteva Coliseum set to expire this year.
With the ever changing dynamics of mid-major college basketball, specifically with the transfer portal, NIL deals and revenue generation for the league with media rights, it will be interesting to see what Bodensteiner will do once she starts the job on April 15.
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