ncaa news

According to Dan Wolken of USA Today Sports, the NCAA's council is "expected to approve a package of new guidelines that could make it more difficult for college football and basketball players who transfer to receive immediate eligibility via waivers." Namely, college athletics' governing body is apparently adjusting its guidelines to require athletes to have "documented extenuating, extraordinary and mitigating circumstances outside of the student-athlete's control that directly impacts the health, safety or well-being of the student-athlete."

The language isn't terribly different overall from last year's policy, but the words "extenuating" and "extraordinary" tightens up the potential for immediate eligibility via waiver from the Committee on Legislative Relief. It might be semantics, but the guidelines are far less broad than they were. Additionally, Wolken writes:


In cases where an athlete was run off by a coach or essentially had their scholarship pulled for non-disciplinary reasons, the NCAA will require a written statement from the athletics director at the previous school stating whether the athlete would not have had an opportunity to return to the team. The committee is being instructed to deny cases where the athlete can't document that they've been run off.

The previous guidelines allowed waivers to be granted for "egregious behavior by a staff member or student at the previous institution" as long as the previous school did not oppose the waiver, giving the committee a fairly broad window to view those claims. The updated version says waivers should be granted for documented cases where the athlete was a victim of "physical assault or abuse, sexually inappropriate behavior, racial abuse, religious discrimination, questioning of sexuality by a staff member or student at the previous institution" though the definition isn't limited to those areas

 

Good. I'm not a fan of NCAA free agency.

 

I hope the graduate transfer rule remains in place, however. That is one I support without reservation.

 

I believe the basis for that rule is that a college educated man or woman is mature enough to make a life decision without regulation.

 

Yeah, what's the chances an AD is going to state the coach ran off a player?

 

That's why God invented Stat 310, Finite Economics, Physics, etc

OR

To quote Cliff Gustafson when looking for one of his players who was in class:

"What the hell is one o my players doing taking calculus?"

 

If true, this is welcome news, albeit surprising given the history of the NCAA. The transfer portal situation has gotten completely out of hand, and unmanageable.

Related, I have been wondering if or to what extent (if any) the transfer portal ambiguity played into McCoy’s decision to “transfer back.” Was he ever cleared by the NCAA to play for TX in 2019? Do we know if the University had even approached the subject? Just wondering.

 

Which begs the question of how can be he cleared to play for USC in 2019 when he spent a semester at Texas including Spring Training.