Baker’s eight-year term as Governor is due to end in January and he is scheduled to take over from Emmert in March.

"I am honoured to become the next President of the NCAA, an organisation that impacts millions of families and countless communities across this country every day," the 66-year-old Baker, a Republican, said.

"The NCAA is confronting complex and significant challenges, but I am excited to get to work as the awesome opportunity college athletics provides to so many students is more than worth the challenge.

“And for the fans that faithfully fill stadiums, stands and gyms from coast to coast, I am eager to ensure the competitions we all love to follow are there for generations to come.

"Over the coming months, I will begin working with student-athletes and NCAA members as we modernise college sports to suit today's world, while preserving its essential value."

Emmert, often criticised for being too conservative, had announced in April that he would be stepping down as President, after 12 years in the role, no later than June 30 next year, despite having just had his contract renewed until 2025. 

He is expected to continue to act in an advisory role for the first half of 2023.

The NCAA had claimed earlier this year it was in the process of "transforming the structure and mission to meet future needs" after announcing a new constitution in January.

Constitution changes follow a United States Supreme Court ruling in June last year, which backed athletes' compensation rights, and several states passing legislation which allowed college athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness.

Student-athletes were previously unable to profit from their own likeness, with the NCAA stressing the need for them to be amateurs, but the state legislation led to the governing body relaxing its rules.

The revised constitution still prohibits pay-for-play, the NCAA insists, but embraces providing additional educational and other benefits, including those for name, image and likeness.

Some believe that the appointment of Baker, a former college basketball player and Harvard University graduate, is partly motivated by the desire to seek Federal legislation to govern how college athletes can make money.

In its release today, the NCAA admitted that "Baker arrives at the NCAA at a moment of significant transformation."

"Legal shifts in the environment surrounding college sports have challenged the NCAA's ability to serve as an effective national regulator for college athletics, resulting in an untenable patchwork of individual state laws," it said.

"Partnering with Federal policymakers to develop a consistent, sustainable legal framework to address issues common to student-athletes and athletic departments across the country will be a top and immediate priority.

"Throughout the search process, Governor Baker's history of successfully forging bipartisan solutions to complex problems stood out to the search committee as uniquely suited to the NCAA's present needs."

After working in State Government for eight years, Baker left to become chief executive of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and later Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a non-profit health benefits company, before running for Governor, winning election at his second attempt in 2014.

He decided not to run in this year’s election.