The NCAA's Division I Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet has approved several amendments to amateurism deregulation proposals that have been under review by the Division I governance structure since October.

Meeting February 21-23 in New Orleans, the cabinet forwarded the amendments to the Division I Management Council for review at the Council's April 9-10 meeting.

"We've reviewed what we've developed so far, listened to constituents and are offering these amendments to address concerns that have been brought to our attention," he said.

The proposed amendments would:

Remove men's and women's basketball from the amateurism deregulation proposals for a two-year period to study the sport's unique issues and develop appropriate regulations.

Those who compete for one year or less after high-school graduation (or discontinuation of high-school enrollment) would lose one season of NCAA eligibility and must fulfill an academic year in residence. (The current proposal would allow prospects who compete in organized competition for a year after high-school graduation to enroll in college and retain three years of eligibility after fulfilling a year in residence; two years if they compete in organized competition for two years; and one year if they compete in three years of organized competition.)

Not allow prospects who attend high schools that sponsor their sport to accept compensation for athletics participation in that sport until after high-school graduation. (The current compensation proposal would allow a prospect to accept compensation for competition at any time before initial collegiate enrollment, though not for promotional or commercial activities.)

Restrict acceptance of education expenses to those who enroll in post-high-school (preparatory) education. (The current proposal would permit prospective student-athletes to accept education expenses from certain sources before enrolling in college. It is not limited to post-high-school education.)

Those included concerns that the sport is more vulnerable to abuses such as problems with agents, boosters and nonscholastic coaches than other sports, recruiting problems, and that there are more financial opportunities for high-school prospects in the sport.

The proposed amendment to the organized-competition rule would still permit prospects to participate in organized sports for a year after leaving high school and retain the opportunity to participate in Division I intercollegiate sports, but it also addresses concerns about graduation rates and the potential abuse of recruiting "ringers" who participate for only short times.

The education-expenses amendment puts more restrictions on acceptance of expenses. This change, the cabinet said, should eliminate "stacking" of private high-school teams.

"The cabinet believes these changes will promote what is in the best interests of student-athletes and maintain competitive equity and academic integrity with our amateurism proposals," said Knight.

The group is scheduled to consider the package for a second time in April; however, the cabinet has recommended that the Management Council support the amendments and forward them to the Association's members for an additional 90-day comment period before a final vote in October 2001.