There have been a lot of important issues on the NCAA docket lately.
The NCAA Division I Council is expected to vote on May 20 whether to implement a change to the transfer rule that would allow undergraduate athletes in football, men’s and women’s basketball, hockey and baseball to transfer to a school without having to sit out a year as they are required to do under the current guidelines.
To qualify, a student-athlete must not have transferred previously and would have to receive a release from the school in which they are enrolled.
It’s a rule that isn’t likely to benefit schools such as the University of Maine.
“I’m very much against it,” University of Maine athletics director Ken Ralph said. “It would be creating a bigger divide between the haves and the have-nots. We would be shifting further away from our mission as academic institutions. It wouldn’t be doing what is best for the student-athlete, it would be what is best for the highly-compensated coaches.”
Student-athletes in sports not listed above already are permitted to do the one-time transfer without requiring a year in residence prior to beginning competition.
Athletes who opt to transfer a second time during their five-year clock of NCAA eligibility have to sit out a year before they’re able to return to action.
Another significant change on the horizon for the NCAA is pending legislation to allow student-athletes to receive financial compensation for use of their names, images and likenesses as never before and without involvement from the association, schools or conferences.
Earlier this week, the NCAA Board of Governors said it supported such a proposal, which awaits a formal vote by the organization’s membership. If approved, it is expected to go into effect no later than the 2021-2022 academic year.
Ralph said he understands the rationale behind student-athletes getting compensated, but he said such a move also has repercussions.
“It had to happen at some point. The issue now is we are heading towards a complete abandonment of the notion of amateurism,” he said. “It will increase the gap between the big Division I schools and the modest ones.”
Schools will not benefit from those arrangements, even though they have been forged through affiliation with athletic programs.
“What if a business offers a player $100,000 to show up to sign autographs at 10 functions, but that money goes directly to the player, and they don’t give any of that money to the athletic department?” Ralph asked.
He said international students, who come to the United States on education visas, would not be able to benefit from the legislation. UMaine was home to athletes from 28 different countries during 2019-2020.
“They can work on campus and do small stuff [to make money] but they can’t make [endorsement] money. They would need a work visa.”