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Division I Legislative Council defeats basketball academic plan

The Division I Legislative Council on Thursday defeated a “retention model-summer school” proposal from the Basketball Academic Enhancement Group that would have required some incoming men’s basketball student-athletes to attend summer school.

Under the proposal considered during the NCAA Convention, coaches would then have had some access to those student-athletes during the summer for skill development.

Prop. No. 2010-58-A would have required incoming student-athletes identified by the school as needing an academic head start to take six hours and pass three in summer school. An alternate proposal (2010-58-B) would have required that all six hours be passed. Another alternate proposal (2010-58-C) would create an exception for service academies. All three were defeated.

While Council members expressed concerns about the access aspect, they indicated support for the academic portions.

The Division I Board of Directors has the opportunity to review all proposals.

On another matter, the Council sent out for further comment a proposal that would change the rules regarding the use of student-athlete likenesses in promotions. The measure aims to accommodate advancements in technology and facilitate more authentic promotions associating schools with their sponsors while maintaining the Association’s fundamental principles of prohibiting exploitation of student-athletes by commercial enterprises.

The Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which initially opposed the legislation, supported the move to seek further comment on the issue with the goal of educating the membership on the subject and a possible amended proposal that would address their concern with the proposal: student-athlete consent.

The proposal, which follows the principles developed by the 2008 Presidential Task Force on Commercial Activity in Division I Athletics, continues many of the safeguards contained within the current legislation that allows the use of a student-athlete’s name or likeness for promotions, advertisements and media activities if specific conditions are met.

Among current conditions carried over into the new legislation are:

Student-athlete permission.

• Athletics director approval for each activity.
• No missed class time.
• No endorsement of a commercial product or service.
• The proposal takes the core requirements and adds refinements, including the following: (1) Promotional activity by a sponsor of an institution, conference or the NCAA must clearly identify the commercial entity’s sponsor affiliation (for example, an official sponsor of the institution or event) when student-athlete images are shown and (2) promotions that include alcoholic beverages, tobacco products or gambling interests are not permitted.

The Amateurism Cabinet sponsored the legislation. The original proposal as well as any amended versions will be considered in April.

Prop. No. 2010-59-C, sponsored by the Atlantic Coast Conference, was sent out for comment. The proposal, a companion to a Football Academic Working Group measure that was defeated, would require football student-athletes to earn nine semester-hours (or eight quarter-hours) of credit in the fall to be eligible for the entire following season. If the minimum standard isn’t met, the student-athlete would lose eligibility for the first four games the following fall, but would have the opportunity to earn back two of those games if he earns 27 credit hours before the season begins. The proposal would allow student-athletes to earn all four games back once in a career. The original FAWG proposal, without the opportunity to earn back all four games, was defeated.

A proposal eliminating the option for student-athletes to decline a sickle cell test was sent out for comment. The original proposal requiring the test allowed incoming student-athletes who objected to waive the test. However, the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports recommended the waiver opportunity be removed. The proposal will be considered in April.

 The Council also:

• Sent out for comment Prop. No. 2010-24, which would require student-athletes interested in “testing the waters” of the NBA draft to remove their name from consideration before the first day of the spring National Letter  of Intent signing period.
• Defeated Prop. No. 2010-42, which would prohibit coaches from making verbal offers of aid before July 1 following a prospect’s junior year. Members noted potential difficulties in monitoring and enforcement.
• Defeated Prop. No. 2010-76, which would have reduced the number of scholarships available to women’s basketball programs from 15 to 13.
• Sent out for comment several proposals changing the way Division I considers non-traditional coursework for eligibility purposes.
• A variety of proposals that would shape the future of sand volleyball were adopted, setting parameters for coaching and financial aid limits, recruiting rules and playing and practice seasons.

All action will be considered final at the close of the Board meeting Saturday.