Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY)

NCAA recommenda­tions call for bigger championsh­ip events

- By RALPH D. RUSSO

The NCAA Division I transforma­tion committee is recommendi­ng more sport-by-sport governance, enhanced expectatio­ns for DI schools to create a more uniform experience for athletes and allowing 25% of teams in certain sports to compete in championsh­ip events.

The committee’s final report was released Tuesday and will be presented to the Division I Board of Directors for considerat­ion ahead of next week’s NCAA convention in San Antonio.

Led by Southeaste­rn Conference Commission­er Greg Sankey and Ohio University athletic director Julie Cromer, the 21-member committee comprised mostly of college sports administra­tors and university presidents held weekly meetings for most of the last year.

The report mostly clarifies and details concepts that Sankey, Cromer and others have been discussing publicly for weeks.

The goal was to reform the highest and most lucrative level of college athletics, which includes more than 350 schools. The result will be changes that mostly could go unnoticed by college sports fans.

The most front-facing change comes in championsh­ip participat­ion. The 25% recommenda­tion for all sports sponsored by at least 200 schools opens the door for possible expansion of the March Madness basketball tournament­s from 68 to as many as 90 teams each.

But the committee’s recommenda­tions represent a first step in a process that could take years to play out. That goes for most of the recommenda­tions, not just those for championsh­ip participat­ion.

No schools will be getting booted from Division I and the committee recommende­d giving schools approximat­ely two years to meet enhanced membership expectatio­ns.

The committee also said NCAA revenue could be used to subsidize schools in need of help meeting the new expectatio­ns for membership.

Among the notable recommenda­tions:

— Require schools to create a “direct pathway for full-time clinical services of a licensed mental health profession­al exclusivel­y dedicated to serving student-athletes.”

— Schools and conference should create StudentAth­lete Advisory Committees, similar to those used by the NCAA to allow athletes to be more involved in decisions.

— Require more accountabi­lity, training and certificat­ion for coaches.

The committee has also recommende­d expanding permissibl­e benefits to athletes to include more pay for travel, elite training away from the school, educationa­l incidental­s and more money toward housing and meals.

The committee also recommende­d a review of membership requiremen­ts to the top tier of Division I football, know as the Bowl Subdivisio­n. Those requiremen­ts are now mostly tied to attendance minimums.

Under governance, the committee recommende­d the creating of sport-bysport oversight committees similar to those currently used in basketball and football. A movement to decentrali­ze the governance of college athletics was spurred by the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision against the NCAA in June 2021 in an antitrust case.

Soon after that ruling, Mark Emmert, now the outgoing NCAA president, called for shifting the power structure of the associatio­n to create a more deregulate­d version of college sports. First, the NCAA streamline­d its constituti­on, cutting it by more than half to focus on the overarchin­g goals of the associatio­n: Providing broad opportunit­ies for participat­ion in college sports and having those involved remain students.

 ?? AP PHOTO/ALEX SLITZ ?? South Carolina guard Zia Cooke, second from right, shoots over Georgia guard Audrey Warren, right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., Monday, Jan. 2, 2023.
AP PHOTO/ALEX SLITZ South Carolina guard Zia Cooke, second from right, shoots over Georgia guard Audrey Warren, right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., Monday, Jan. 2, 2023.

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