The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 6, 1999

Amateurism, basketball issues slated for debate at forum

Two broad-based topics that could impact some of the core principles and policies in Division I are set to be debated at the Division I forum during the 2000 NCAA Convention.

Two legislative packages -- one dealing with deregulation of the Association's amateurism rules and another regarding basketball-related issues in Division I -- will be discussed during the Monday, January 10 session that runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the San Diego Hyatt's Manchester Ballroom.

The two legislative packages have similar impact potential but are at different stages of development. The amateurism deregulation package comes from the Division I Academics/Eligibility Compliance Cabinet's Subcommittee on Agents and Amateurism and is a product of more than two years' worth of study and review. The subcommittee has presented six legislative proposals that include an expansion of the "tennis rule," as well as deregulation of legislation restricting contractual agreements with professional sports teams, and pay and compensation or prize money for athletics participation before college enrollment.

The basketball issues package contains 14 proposals recommended by the Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues that address issues ranging from summer financial aid and initial eligibility to recruiting and gambling. The package also includes seven alternative proposals so far from various Division I conferences, and more may be submitted by the December 15 deadline for discussion at the forum.

Council review

Both packages were presented to the Management Council in October. The Council tabled the amateurism deregulation package as a way to ensure a forum for membership debate, and approved the basketball issues package to initiate the 60-day comment period without taking an official position on the package as a whole or any individual proposal. Both actions set in motion a time line that would allow Division I members to provide comment and guidance before the Council would consider the issues again at its next legislative meeting in April.

"Both of these issues have potential long-term implications for the Association," said Ted Leland, director of athletics at Stanford University and chair of the Division I Management Council. "But the amateurism package is in the educational stage of development right now, whereas the basketball package is farther down the pike.

"In other words, the AEC cabinet subcommittee is firm in its belief that deregulating amateurism would benefit student-athlete welfare but the membership still needs a chance to provide some help or direction with the practical application of the proposals. The basketball package, on the other hand, is pretty well polished -- it's just up to the membership to decide which way to go on each of the proposals."

Membership involvement

Leland said that though the Management Council will review the amateurism package in April, it would be unlikely for any final action to be rendered until a future meeting. He said the basketball package, however, is different because most of those proposals already have gone out for comment and the Board of Directors has indicated that it expects to act on them in April.

"The forum discussions will be critical to both packages," Leland said. "There are some things that need to be worked out regarding the concept of amateurism, such as how the proposals affect sports-agent issues, and if the proposals impact currently enrolled and pre-enrolled student-athletes differently. The forum might provide some answers to those types of questions. With the basketball proposals, though, I think Division I has had some time to think them through. The forum will provide an opportunity for us to find out which of the alternatives are preferred."

Robin J. Green, NCAA assistant chief of staff for Division I, said the forum will be set up as a panel discussion with opportunity for questioning and debate from the audience. Some of the panelists expected to attend are Christine H. Grant, director of women's athletics at the University of Iowa and chair of the Subcommittee on Agents and Amateurism, and Kenneth A. Shaw, chancellor of Syracuse University and chair of the Division I Working Group to Study Basketball Issues.

"In the past five years, the Division I membership has been looking for more ways to be involved in the Convention," Green said. "A review of these two issues -- each of which could change some of the culture in Division I -- will provide members not only with an educational opportunity to understand the rationale behind some of the proposals, but with a chance to debate their long-range implications. These might be some of the most critical issues Division I has dealt with or will deal with for some time."

Green said that because the basketball proposals are nearing possible final action in April, straw votes might be solicited at the forum in order to give the Management Council some guidance.

"The Council will be looking to the forum to gauge the membership's stance on each of these packages, particularly the basketball proposals," Green said. "That's why the Council did what it did in October, to provide an opportunity for membership discussion."