Division III Albright cuts player for kneeling during anthem

READING » A backup quarterback for Division III Albright College in Pennsylvania has been cut for kneeling during the national anthem.

Sophomore Gyree Durante took a knee before Saturday’s game. He says he was “taught you fight for what you believe in and you don’t bow to anyone.”

Professional and college football players and athletes in other sports have been kneeling or protesting during the anthem. The movement was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick last season over his view of police mistreatment of black males.

The school says Durante was cut because he violated a team decision to show unity by kneeling during the coin toss, but standing during the anthem.

The school says the players understood there could be consequences for anyone that didn’t support the team’s decision.

NCAA to form commission in response to bribery scheme

The NCAA said it will form a commission to study the inner workings of college basketball in response a federal investigation into bribery and fraud that rocked the sport and implicated several assistant coaches.

The NCAA announced the commission Wednesday and said former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lead the committee.

“We need to do right by student-athletes,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said in a statement. “I believe we can — and we must — find a way to protect the integrity of college sports by addressing both sides of the coin: fairness and opportunity for college athletes, coupled with the enforcement capability to hold accountable those who undermine the standards of our community.”

Emmert said the NCAA needs to quickly make “substantive changes” in the way it operates. He said the changes will focus on the relationships between the NCAA, schools, athletes and coaches with outside entities like shoe companies, agents and financial managers. He said the committee will also examine the effects of the so-called “one and done” rule that prompts players on a pro track to play in college for one season, as well as college basketball’s broad relationship with the NBA.