New York Daily News

A NEW DAY AT NCAA

Sweeping rules make life better for players

- BY STEFAN BONDY

College basketball will be played under new rules meant to buff its tarnished image.

The NCAA announced Wednesday changes to its eligibilit­y rules by offering more flexibilit­y, allowing top prospects to hire agents as early as high school and giving players leeway to return to college after declaring for the NBA draft, among other things.

But in a lot of ways, this is about survival and image. The NCAA has tried to implement impossible rules in the name of maintainin­g amateurism, resulting in a cascade of investigat­ions, suspension­s and vacated victories. It fueled charges of hypocrisy since the universiti­es were earning billions off athletes who aren’t allowed compensati­on.

Those athletes still can’t be paid by their university or earn money off their image. The big difference is they’ll no longer lose NCAA eligibilit­y if they hire an agent to help them make “informed decisions about going pro,” according to Wednesday’s release.

There is no mention of endorsemen­ts, agent compensati­on or the sneaker companies that were at the center of the FBI’s investigat­ion into corruption. The revisions are basically about removing consequenc­es for declaring for the NBA draft.

These are the highlights from the NCAA’s website:

- College basketball players can be represente­d by an agent beginning after any season.

- Once the NBA again allows high schoolers to enter the NBA draft, they can be represente­d by an agent beginning July 1 before their senior year in high school. However, the player must be identified as an elite senior prospect by USA Basketball.

- Agents can pay for meals and transporta­tion for players and their families if the expenses are related to the agent selection process. Also, the student cannot miss class, and the money must be spent where the student lives or attends school. Additional­ly, high school and college student-athletes and their families can have meals, transporta­tion and lodging paid for by an agent if those expenses are associated with meetings with the agent or a pro team.

- Basketball student-athletes can make more frequent campus visits paid for by colleges (referred to as official visits), which can begin as soon as Aug. 1 the summer before their junior year in high school.

Division I schools will be required to pay for tuition, fees and books for basketball players who leave school and return later to the same school to earn their degree. Former student-athletes will be eligible for financial assistance to complete their first degree if they were on scholarshi­p and fewer than 10 years have passed since they left school. Additional­ly, students must have been in school for two years before leaving.

Neither the NBA nor USA Basketball were consulted despite being referenced in the rules changes. It left the impression they were hastily constructe­d.

According to ESPN, USA Basketball was “blindsided” by the rule stating it would be in charge of evaluating which high school players were eligible to hire agents. There is also the issue of evaluating nonAmerica­n top high school prospects — and there are plenty — who are not accounted for in the NCAA’s new rules.

The changes reflect the recommenda­tions made in April by the Rice Commission, led by former Secretary of State Condoleezz­a Rice. It was formed in response to an FBI investigat­ion into payments from shoe companies to coaches for steering players to certain schools. Most notably, former Louisville coach Rick Pitino was fired as a result.

The NBA, sensing the system’s failures, is “ready” to abolish the one-and-done rule, according to Commission­er Adam Silver, and it’s only a matter of time before high school seniors will again be eligible for the NBA draft.

Now the NCAA is giving more flexibilit­y to its basketball players — a small step in the right direction — while also establishi­ng new rules it will undoubtedl­y struggle to uphold.

 ??  ?? Student athletes will be allowed to hire agents as early as high school, and can return to college even if they declare for the NBA draft under new rules announced by the NCAA Wednesday.
Student athletes will be allowed to hire agents as early as high school, and can return to college even if they declare for the NBA draft under new rules announced by the NCAA Wednesday.

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