Five things to know about Rice Commission’s plan

RALEIGH, N.C. — The College Basketball Commission’s long-awaited recommendations arrived Wednesday morning. Led by Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state and Stanford provost, the commission spent the past seven months developing solutions to address the myriad problems in college basketball, which has been in a crisis since September amid an FBI investigation that has exposed the sport’s corruption.

The highlights of the Rice Commission’s recommendations:

1. It calls for an end to the so-called “one-anddone” rule.

The one-and-done rule, which requires players to be one year removed from their high school graduating class before entering the NBA draft, is, in fact, an NBA rule, one that the NCAA and its member schools have no control over. Still, Rice and the other 13 members of the College Basketball Commission have called on the NBA to end the rule, saying the “downsides now outweigh any benefits” in college basketball. Some college programs — Duke and Kentucky, especially — have become known in recent years for their reliance on freshmen who play one season before entering the NBA draft. The Rice Commission views the one-and-done model as a problem because the players who use it are often seen as commodities — by shoe companies, by agents — before they even arrive in college.

2. If the one-and-done rule doesn’t end, then ... freshmen ineligibility?

The commission has called for the NBA to end one-anddone by the end of 2018. If it doesn’t happen, Rice alluded to “other tools” that might be at the NCAA’s disposal. She said if the one-and-done rule isn’t removed, the committee would reconvene and consider what else could be done to address the problems the rule creates.

Among those, Rice said, would be consideration of the so-called “baseball model,” in which college baseball players are required to remain in college for three years. Another possibility, Rice said, would be freshman ineligibility, which would take college basketball back to its roots, somewhat. Freshmen were ineligible in college basketball, decades ago, but that rule went away in 1972.

Could freshmen ineligibility really come back? Doubtful, but the Rice Commission’s take on the oneand-done rule underscores a growing disdain for that model, and the perception that it needs to be changed.

3. College players who enter the NBA draft, and aren’t drafted, should remain eligible.

No question, this will be the most popular of the commission’s recommendations.

If the Rice Commission’s recommendations come to fruition, then college players who enter the NBA draft but aren’t drafted can return to school, so long as they don’t sign a professional contract. There are some conditions: The player has to return to the same school, and he has to receive an evaluation from the NBA’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee before entering the draft.

For players, there’s no downside to this. College coaches, though, might grumble.

The NBA draft is in mid-tolate June. This year, it’s June 21. By then, coaches — who, by nature, love to have as much control as possible — will want to know who’s on their rosters for next season. This proposal, if it passes, makes that more difficult.

4. Players should be allowed to work with agents to better understand their pro prospects.

The commission recommended that the NCAA and its members “develop strict standards” for certifying agents, and allowing NCAA-certified agents to work with high school prospects and offer guidance about whether they should enter college, or pursue a professional career.

The commission recommended that college players be allowed to sign with NCAA-certified agents, while retaining their eligibility. Currently, it’s against NCAA rules for athletes to sign with agents. Among the long-assumed revelations in the FBI investigations have been black-and-white details about how agents attempt to induce athletes and their families while the athletes are still in high school.

5. Much harsher NCAA penalties are coming, as is an overhaul of how academic fraud is handled, if the Rice Commission has its way.

The commission essentially called for an overhaul of how the NCAA handles “complex and serious” infractions cases. The commission, for one, recommended that the NCAA create independent bodies to investigate and decide those cases. Secondly, it called for much more severe penalties.

How severe? Well, a case that includes allegations of Level I violations, which are the most serious, could come with a penalty of a five-year postseason ban. The commission also called for harsher “financial penalties” for Level I violations. Those, according to the commission, would include the loss of all revenue sharing in postseason play, including the NCAA tournament, for the length of the ban.

The commission also addressed how academic fraud cases should be handled. It recommended that the NCAA “revise and clarify its role in addressing academic fraud or misconduct by member institutions and make application of those rules consistent.”