The Division I Legislative Council addressed five pieces of legislation during its October 20-21 meeting that were presented as emergency or noncontroversial by Division I cabinets – including a proposal changing the definition of a prospective men’s basketball student-athlete.

Proposal 2008-76, which for the purposes of applying NCAA tryout and camp/clinic regulations would define a prospective men’s basketball student-athlete as any individual who has started the seventh grade, was tabled by the Council to allow for further feedback from conferences.  The legislation, intended to prevent Division I men’s basketball coaches from being employed in nonscholastic elite camps conducted for seventh- and eighth-graders and to prevent institutions from conducting elite camps for that age group that could be seen as a tryout, will be on the docket at the Council’s January meeting.

Another proposal, 2008-75, which would require institutions to submit the final high school transcripts for early qualifiers to the Eligibility Center by November 15, was considered controversial enough to require further study. Amid concerns about the deadline and ease of obtaining the transcripts and the application of the legislation to walk-on student-athletes who may ultimately not be part of a team, the Legislative Council requested that the Division I Board of Directors – the only group with the power to sponsor legislation for the current cycle after July 15 – enter the proposal into the 2008-09 cycle for consideration.

Proposals 2008-73, 2008-69 and 2008-61 were all deemed noncontroversial and passed by the Council. Proposal 2008-61 would change the composition of the Division I Women’s Soccer Committee, 2008-69 would require background checks for the operators of certified events and leagues in men’s and women’s basketball, and 2008-73 would give management of the national statistics program to the Championships/Sports Management Cabinet.

Under the new governance structure, if the Board chooses not to act on any of the noncontroversial proposals approved by the Legislative Council, they will be considered adopted after the October 30 Board meeting.