The Division I Board of Directors at its meeting this Thursday will reconsider recently adopted legislation that prohibits men’s basketball coaches from attending nonscholastic events in April. The rule was approved by the Board in April and took effect August 1.

Because the requisite number of schools requested an override of the legislation, the Board will review its previous action and has three options:

• Take no action, sending the legislation to a vote of the Division I membership present and voting at the 2009 NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.

• Overturn the legislation

• Modify the legislation, which would subject it to another override period.

Supporters of the legislation say that the new rule sends a consistent message that academics are the top priority for the Association. Those who requested the override point to financial concerns for programs that used the nonscholastic events as a “one-stop shop” for recruiting. To read more about the legislation, click here.

Additionally, the Board will review a recommendation from the Committee on Academic Performance that outlines the appeal processes for the most serious penalties in the Academic Performance Program. If the Board approves the recommendation, institutions facing third- and fourth-occasion historically based penalties will have the opportunity to appeal the penalties in a similar way to the appeals process for enforcement penalties.

The group is also expected to discuss a report from the Task Force on Commercial Activity in Intercollegiate Athletics. The task force, charged with developing principles for the Association based on the values of higher education, met last month.