Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott addressed the media before ASU football's conference opener versus California on Saturday night, announcing a series of student-athlete initiatives.
Scott said that Chinese coaches are training at ASU and at Utah, as part of a five-year partnership which involves Pac-12 student-athletes training and competing in China in the offseason.
He also citied the Olympic success of the Pac-12 in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Among them was ASU swimmer Kat Simonovic, who competed for Serbia.
ASU swim and dive head coach Bob Bowman was also Team USA's head coach, and Michael Phelps will join his staff in 2017.
"Sports is the front porch for our universities," Scott said. "Because globalization is so important for our universities, sports has another role to play."
The ASU soccer program played an exhibition game in Tempe against Beijing Normal University on Aug. 27, and Pac-12 basketball All-Star teams featuring Sun Devils have toured in China in the past.
"We're coming off a season where we were the deepest we've ever been," Scott said. "I expect we're going to be equally deep... I like the overall trajectory of the conference in football.
"Interestingly, it's really been the strength of Oregon and Stanford nationally, and I think it's true that your strongest traditional brands doing well garners more attention and more ratings."
Scott called Colorado's 41-38 win over Oregon at Autzen Stadium a "paradigm shift" for the Buffaloes, and also said that until a Pac-12 team wins a national championship, the conference might not gain respect across the country.
With the struggles of USC (1-3), Scott said that some casual viewers might not associate the Pac-12 with excellence if its traditional powers struggle, but added "we've got other schools that have established themselves... I do sense that over the last few years, people have recognized the depth of the conference."
Additionally, Scott said that some legislative proposals that will be voted on at the NCAA convention in January 2017.
The proposals deal with student-athlete welfare, time-management plans, days off (one non-travel day per week), and allowing student athletes to have more of a voice.
Scott is also planning to take a tour of the renovated Sun Devil Stadium either during or following the game.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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