Takedown Report

Docs: NCAA considering applying football redshirt rule to athletes in all sports

The NCAA is considering more historic changes to its amateurism rules.
Member schools plan to seriously consider granting athletes in all sports, not just football, the ability to participate in up to a certain percentage of games in a fifth season and still use their redshirt; permit athletes to earn prize money before they enroll in college; and eliminate the National Letter of Intent. The potential changes are part of what is expected to be a year-long comprehensive review of NCAA athlete-eligibility rules to reflect and operationalize the House settlement terms, according to documents obtained by Yahoo Sports. The documents will be reviewed this coming week during a video call of the NCAA Division I Council.
Recommendations and approval of the athlete-eligibility rules are expected to occur on a rolling basis and be presented to the DI Council for consideration at regular quarterly meetings through October 2025. However, a new signing model with the elimination of the National Letter of Intent could be approved as soon as October, according to documents distributed to administrators.
While expected given the arrival of athlete revenue sharing next year, the changes under consideration are historic and significant in nature — the latest steps in college sports’ evolution away from the amateurism model that has cost it billions in legal losses.
In one of the more notable potential changes, athletes in all sports could participate in up to a certain amount of contests during a sports season while still using their redshirt. Such a policy is only currently permitted in football and wrestling. In football, for instance, a player can play in up to four regular-season games and still use his redshirt season (the NCAA recently updated this rule to exempt all postseason competition from the four-game policy).
Such a rule has not existed for sports like basketball, baseball and all others aside from wrestling. If the policy is changed, sport-specific NCAA committees will be tasked with determining how many contests a player in each sport can participate in before a year of eligibility is exhausted. In the NCAA documents, an example is offered of 30%, a similar figure used in football.
Other notable changes include what documents describe as a “new signing model” with the elimination of the National Letter of Intent. The “core benefits” of the National Letter of Intent will be incorporated into the institution’s athletics financial aid and scholarship agreements, according to the document. Similar recruiting rules tied to the National Letter of Intent will continue with the signing of school aid agreements. … more at … https://sports.yahoo.com/docs-ncaa-considering-applying-football-redshirt-rule-to-athletes-in-all-sports-154903963.html

September 24, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | college-football, ncaa