PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island -- The Division I Management Council has recommended stricter eligibility reinstatement conditions than those currently in place for prospects who compete on professional teams before their collegiate enrollment.

Meeting July 22-23, the Council determined that prospective or enrolled student-athletes who compete on a professional team beyond their first opportunity to enroll in college after their expected high-school graduation should be permanently ineligible for intercollegiate athletics participation. However, if a prospect's professional participation ends before that time, and if the prospect received no more than actual and necessary expenses, eligibility could be restored after a one-for-one sit-out condition is applied. The loss of one collegiate game for every professional game played would not exceed the number of contests during an NCAA season (for example, 28 in basketball).

The recommendations are in response to a Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee request for guidance after the Management Council and Board of Directors in April approved a tighter definition of a professional team. That legislation (Proposal No. 01-96) defined a professional team as one that declared itself to be so or one on which any participant was paid more than actual and necessary expenses.

From a reinstatement standpoint, Proposal No. 01-96 seemingly conflicted with the current reinstatement condition, which is to withhold individuals from a maximum of 20 percent of the number of professional games played in basketball or eight games, whichever is less. That policy, which will be applied until the new conditions become effective August 1, 2003, has been in place since fall 2001 when the Management Council and Board of Directors approved the current policy in response to a Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) request to provide different reinstatement conditions for student-athletes, particularly those who may not have known they were competing on a professional team in foreign countries or those who played in only a handful of games.

Before that, the Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee's longstanding reinstatement condition was a one-for-one sit-out period. The subcommittee used a two-prong test for those cases, first establishing whether the prospect's or student-athlete's actions indicated an "intent to professionalize," then determining whether a competitive advantage was gained. The subcommittee later modified its stance, applying the one-for-one penalty only for "first-tier-level" competition, and applying a one-for-two condition to second-tier players and a 10 percent (three games in basketball) penalty for participants who competed below first- or second-tier levels. But in October 2001, the Management Council in a close decision approved the CCA's recommendation.

In April, though, the Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet asked the Council to establish a "sunset" on the 20 percent/eight-game condition, a decision the Council deferred until the July meeting.

The new conditions are stricter because they shorten the window of opportunity for prospects to compete professionally without permanently losing intercollegiate eligibility, and they represent a return to the one-for-one withholding philosophy for all prospects and student-athletes, regardless of the "tier" or level of professional competition.

Not an easy decision

The new conditions were approved only after a lengthy debate in which Council members considered several alternatives presented by the Division I Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee. Those options included:

Permanent ineligibility, regardless of the level of professional competition or the number of games played.

A one-game sit-out for every two professional games played (not to exceed the number of contests in an NCAA season), as long as the competition occurred during the year immediately after high-school graduation.

A one-game sit-out for every two professional games played (not to exceed the number of contests in an NCAA season), with no time limit.

A year in residence (with financial aid and practice) and no loss of eligibility for prospects who compete during the year immediately after high-school graduation (if competition extends beyond that, the prospect is subject to loss of seasons of eligibility up to permanent ineligibility).

A one-game sit-out for every five professional games played (not to exceed eight contests in basketball).

Council members also considered a number of combinations of the above options, but in the end, chose the selected option.

This direction applies only for violations involving participation on professional teams. Violations of other NCAA legislation (for example, signing a contract, receiving compensation) could involve permanent ineligibility or other reinstatement conditions, as determined by the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee and case precedent.

In a related matter, the Council recommended that the Board of Directors defeat Proposal No. 99-106 (organized competition), which is no longer necessary in light of the direction provided to the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Subcommittee regarding reinstatement conditions for competition on a professional team. The Board had tabled the proposal in April pending the discussion of reinstatement conditions.

Division I governance issues

In other action, the Management Council continued its discussion of increasing participation in the Division I governance structure. The Council heard from its governance subcommittee, which has been charged with presenting options that address recent concerns from constituents who feel disenfranchised from the legislative process.

The subcommittee will be soliciting feedback from several groups, including the Divisions I-A, I-AA and I-AAA Athletics Directors Associations, the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators and the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association.

The subcommittee intends in October to continue discussing this issue, as well as the possible use of the Convention for membership review of issues or voting, and it anticipates the development of proposals in this regard. The subcommittee also agreed that it would improve communications to develop a "book" of legislative proposals for distribution to the membership during each legislative cycle, which would include the intent, text, rationale, source, status and future steps for each pending proposal.

The governance subcommittee also brought forth several legislative issues, agreeing to review in October draft legislation that would:

Establish a "sunset" for legislative proposals that are not forwarded to the Board of Directors within four legislative Management Council meetings, with a provision that the Council could extend the time frame for a particular proposal, if necessary.

Create a Division I-AA/I-AAA Presidential Governance Committee, which would be composed of one president from each of the 20 Division I-AA and I-AAA conferences represented in the Division I governance structure, to provide input to the seven Division I-AA and I-AAA members of the Board of Directors, who also would represent their conferences on the committee.

Permit alternates for Division I-AA or I-AAA members who are unable to attend a Board of Directors meeting, given the fact that the seven members are representing the interests of the remaining 13 conferences and the absence of a member is a significant percentage of the I-AA/I-AAA representation.

Other highlights

Division I Management Council
July 22-23/Providence, Rhode Island

Heard a report from the Championships/Competition Cabinet regarding championship brackets and formats in sports other than basketball and provided direction to the cabinet regarding several factors that should be considered in developing the appropriate philosophy for conducting Division I championships, including principles that should apply to all sports, consideration of the unique nature of some sports, the cost to administer each championship, the academic impact (for example, missed class time) and whether revenue is generated.

Heard a report from the Big Ten Conference on the impact of national seeding on competitive equity, student-athlete time demands and cost containment, and the need for regional seeding in certain championships, particularly baseball. The Council directed the Championships/Competition Cabinet to review the report -- as well as available information from those with other views -- and develop recommendations regarding the unique issues affecting certain sports and the general philosophy regarding the conduct of Division I championships.

Recommended a 7 percent inflationary adjustment to one of the alternatives for satisfying Division I financial aid minimums.

* Requested that the Championships/Competition Cabinet and the Men's Basketball Committee study the impact of the new provisional and reclassifying membership timeline on an institution's eligibility to be an automatic qualifier for NCAA championships. Specifically, in men's basketball, it now takes 15 years (seven-year provisional period, eight-year waiting period for automatic qualification) for an institution that joins the NCAA to be eligible to be the automatic qualifier from a conference to the men's basketball championship. The waiting period for an institution that reclassifies to Division I from Division II is 13 years. Council members expressed concern that the waiting period should be evaluated in light of the new provisional and reclassifying timelines.

Deferred until October discussion regarding the funding of the proposed Division I regional leadership conferences for 2003-04, pending receipt of final budget requests for 2003-04 Division I championship initiatives.

Agreed to appoint a subcommittee to examine changing the legislative designation of Division I-AA/AAA. The request came from the Division I-AA Football Governance Committee, which noted that although the designations apply only to football, they are used to label the entire institution and all of its sports, and that such a label creates a disadvantage among some Division I members. The committee feels the elimination of subclassifications may provide incentives for institutions to remain at the appropriate subclassification, and for institutions that may not meet the new Division I-A standards to continue to sponsor football.

Received a report from NCAA staff regarding the collection of financial disclosure information for men's basketball and the legislative basis for the requested information; noted that the staff had addressed many of the concerns the Management Council had raised in April; and agreed that the Administrative Committee should appoint an ad hoc group of Management Council members to work with NCAA staff to further simplify the forms for next year.

Joined Division II and Division III Management Council members in attending a panel presentation on helping coaches, faculty and administrators create a safer environment for homosexual student-athletes. The panel was headed by Nora Beck, faculty athletics representative at Lewis and Clark College, and included three student-athletes.

Emergency legislation

Though the Council's July 22-23 meeting was a nonlegislative session, the group did approve the following proposals as emergency, noncontroversial legislation:

Proposal No. 01-64, which except in basketball permits an institution to purchase additional official NCAA championships awards for all eligible members of an institution's verified squad list at the time of the championship and for all nonparticipant members of the official travel party in the applicable sport.

* Proposal No. 02-36, which establishes two separate 16-voting-member standing Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Issues Committees that are exempt from the requirement that no subdivision have more than 50 percent representation on any committee. The committees replace the previous interim Division I Basketball Issues Committee, which had operated with separate men's and women's subcommittees. The Council approved the emergency legislation so the committees could be appointed and begin working on issues this fall.

* Proposal No. 02-39, which provides an exception to the new definition of a professional team (Proposal No. 01-96) to permit student-athletes to compete on Olympic or national teams that are competing for prize money, provided the student-athlete does not accept prize money or any other compensation. (The proposal was amended to include prospects as well as student-athletes.)

Proposal No. 02-40, which in women's volleyball permits contacts and evaluations during a quiet period in those states that conduct the high-school volleyball season during the winter.

Proposal No. 02-41, which in women's basketball deletes the provision permitting coaches to evaluate prospects during official tryouts for the USA Basketball Olympic Festival (which has been discontinued).

Proposal No. 02-42, which in men's basketball revises the fall contact period to end on October 5 (instead of October 14).

Proposal No. 02-43, which amends the definitions of a collegiate institution to reflect the changes in the U.S Department of Education's classification system.

Proposal No. 02-59, which amends the legislation adopted in Proposal No. 01-128 (season of-competition waiver for eligible student-athlete) by adding a requirement that the competition occur before the completion of the first 20 percent of the championship segment of the institution's declared playing and practice season and deleting the requirement that the competition occur within 60 days of the date the student-athlete reported for athletics participation.

Proposal No. 02-60, which revises current legislation that permits a student-athlete to be granted an additional year of competition for reasons of hardship that occur after the first day of classes in his or her senior year of high school. (The proposal was considered emergency legislation so that it may be applied to a student-athlete with remaining eligibility who incurred an incapacitating injury or illness before the 2001-02 academic year.)

Proposal No. 02-61, which revises the legislation applicable to fall championship sports that permits a student-athlete to engage in outside competition during the nonchampionship segment without using a season of competition, provided the student-athlete was eligible during the championship segment. (The proposal was considered emergency legislation so that the legislation may be applied before the 2001-02 academic year.)

Proposal No. 02-62, which modifies the start date for two specified certified events sponsored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Black Coaches Association, consistent with the date for some other certified events.