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Boise State case highlights waiver availability 

By Michelle Brutlag Hosick
NCAA.org

Confusion at Boise State in the wake of the death of a prospective student-athlete provides an educational moment about the flexibility allowed in some NCAA rules through the waiver process.

Schools accustomed to acting by the letter of the law might not understand that relief is often available, especially as the NCAA works to give institutions the benefit of the doubt in cases that fall into compliance gray areas.

Emil Smith, who had verbally committed to play football at Boise State but had not signed a National Letter of Intent, died July 18 in a car accident. Initially, a Boise State official said that no exceptions could be made to NCAA rules prohibiting coaches from attending the funeral, sending flowers or making any additional contact with Smith’s family.

However, the NCAA often grants requests for waivers of the extra benefits and contact rules in such circumstances, and has done so at least five times over the last year.

In this case, Boise State contacted the NCAA on July 19 about providing support to the family. The NCAA compliance staff informed the university on July 20 it could seek a waiver and noted that there is considerable past precedent for granting them. The university chose not to seek a waiver, however, which the NCAA compliance staff said would have been granted immediately. 

“We are committed to working with institutions and coaches to make exceptions to NCAA rules that make sense, particularly in such tragic situations,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs. “The waiver process was created to allow some flexibility to accommodate unique circumstances such as the one at Boise State and the similar cases we deal with every year. We are committed to work through the process with schools in a timely manner.”

In the past year, the NCAA granted waivers to:

• A school’s women’s soccer staff, to call a prospective student-athlete after her father’s death.
• A school’s men’s soccer staff, to provide flowers for the funeral of a prospect’s father.
• A university’s football staff, to have additional contacts with a prospect who had suffered a stroke. 
• A school’s head men’s basketball coach, to attend the funeral of a prospect’s brother during an evaluation period. The head coach and the prospect’s father were close personal friends. 
• A university’s field hockey staff, to pick up an international student-athlete from the second-closest major airport to campus after her mother died and she enrolled earlier than expected. The prospect made travel arrangements without assistance from the institution.

To apply for a waiver, an institution usually must fill out a waiver request using an online form and submit it to the NCAA national office. However, an expedited process is available in time-sensitive cases and those involving extraordinary or unforeseen circumstances such as the Boise State case. Such cases can be addressed within a day or even in a telephone call, with the appropriate paperwork filed within two weeks.

All requests, whether in writing or over the phone, are reviewed by the NCAA staff, and a decision is made based on the intent of the original legislation, the well-being of student-athletes and the possibility of competitive or recruiting advantages.

More information about the waiver process is available to the membership online.