It would take guts (something these school administrators clearly don't have) but I think a simpler approach would be to tighten up credits transferring and/or not allowing kids to take some BS certificate course at the new school.

In all the legal filings, the NCAA has argued college sports is unique because the athletes are students, not professionals.  Yet, time and again we hear about athletes being pushed into "easy" majors, or frankly no majors at all, in order to make scheduling practices, travel, and games easier.  If the schools got together and agreed to certain baseline minimums regarding credits, majors, GPA, etc., it may end up producing situations where students can't really transfer every year because they'd have nowhere to go.  I believe Michigan has been the most visible example of this where two years in a row a transfer has been denied admission because they can't transfer enough credits to graduate.

I am not naïve enough to think this could be accomplished because we've already seen schools like Tennessee sue the NCAA for investigating tampering allegations. But if the NCAA wants to put their money where their mouths are about the idea of the STUDENT athlete, it should be reigning in the schools that fail to adhere to any sort of academic standards.

Who is going to be there for many of the 99% that never make the league and have no college degree because they transferred multiple times while squandering whatever NIL money they made after paying their "NIL agent". Asking for a friend. 

Let's just say you made $150k in the NIL money for 4 years in MD. You would probably pay your NIL agent 15-20% = $30k. So you have $120k each year minus federal/state taxes (let's say 30% after deductions) and 15.3% FICA. So you are left with 65-70K each year. Now there is no more basketball and you have no degree. This is what the NCAA is promoting.

Solution. Treat college athletics based on academics and degrees. You can get one immediate transfer as an undergrad and one as a grad transfer. Period. You have to be academically eligible based on a minimum standards as far as courses and progress towards graduation. If you don't like it go pro. NCAA needs to grow a pair and reassert that this is about student-athletes and not athletes and if a college education isn't about an education, you need to find something else.

Last edited by GWRising (4/25/2024 12:10 pm)

It’s amazing how much pressure we put on these kids to stay at one school, with no incentive to stay there (unless they choose to).

How about this for an idea—four year contracts for players, and if they want to leave, they pay a buyout.

There used to be concerns about 22 year old athletes making sure that they weren't being ripped off by unscrupulous agents.  Now, we have these concerns about 18 and 19 year olds who hire NIL agents who are likely not to be accredited in any way.  And if we're going to bring up pressure, imagine putting yourself into the portal, hearing from dozens of schools daily, being told not to make a move elsewhere because we are just getting our NIL package for you, only to be later told that there will be no NIL money or offer because someone better came along, and then continuing to play this game of musical chairs over what amounts to a 6 week period.  Then of course comes to the move to a new school which, if things don't work out, puts you right back into this game again the following year.

This is an example of the unintended ramifications which result from a system that was never intended to resemble what it's become yet is predictably the case.  Remember the meaning of "Name, Image, and Likeness?"  It was never going to be this.  Instead, paying the players has resulted in highest bidders and annual unrestricted free agency and unqualified agents and jealousy among teammates.  One school recently acknowledged that it thought it was in good shape since its NIL budget tripled this year, only to find that others they compete against had quintupled its NIL budgets.  

Danj, your post is downright bazaar.  Players finally do have the right to make money, and what the marketplace is dictating is that in many cases, it will require a substantial financial package to retain a player.  The players (and their agents) are now the ones calling the shots and your concern is the amount of pressure placed on them to stay at a school?  Am not exactly shedding a tear for them under these circumstances. 

Get ready for college students transferring around until their 30s.  Chris Ledlum and Jordan Dingle have filed suit in NY to enjoin the NCAA from enforcing the rule that limits participation to four seasons. It also sort of sounds like they are challenging the NCAA's ability to determine eligibility at all. 

They claim "there are dire consequences for student athletes that the NCAA labels ineligible. Consequences include: loss of scholarship, inhibited professional prospects, and inability to leverage Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) opportunities."  Both were Ivy league players who did not get a 5th "COVID year" because the Ivy league chose not to play any games in 2020-2021.  FWIW, they've both played 4 full seasons of basketball and have been in college for 5 years already. 

Both are in the NBA Draft process and claim to be at "a significant disadvantage from their peers who had the opportunity to showcase five years of competition versus Mr. Ledlum and Mr. Dingle who were only able to showcase four."  They are seeking an injunction because schools assume they can't compete anymore, and their coach Rick Pitino will fill their spots on the roster.

Ledlum v NCAA complaint .pdf - Google Drive

GW0509 wrote:

Get ready for college students transferring around until their 30s.  Chris Ledlum and Jordan Dingle have filed suit in NY to enjoin the NCAA from enforcing the rule that limits participation to four seasons. It also sort of sounds like they are challenging the NCAA's ability to determine eligibility at all. 

They claim "there are dire consequences for student athletes that the NCAA labels ineligible. Consequences include: loss of scholarship, inhibited professional prospects, and inability to leverage Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”) opportunities."  Both were Ivy league players who did not get a 5th "COVID year" because the Ivy league chose not to play any games in 2020-2021.  FWIW, they've both played 4 full seasons of basketball and have been in college for 5 years already. 

Both are in the NBA Draft process and claim to be at "a significant disadvantage from their peers who had the opportunity to showcase five years of competition versus Mr. Ledlum and Mr. Dingle who were only able to showcase four."  They are seeking an injunction because schools assume they can't compete anymore, and their coach Rick Pitino will fill their spots on the roster.

Ledlum v NCAA complaint .pdf - Google Drive

 Outstanding! I'm back!!!! Time to get that NIL money I didn't get in the 1980's 

Perfect. Or was he the mysterious 5th recruit?

All great ideas and the types of things the NCAA should have been thinking about 15 years ago, before the courts intervened—not unjustifiably.

When many others are making millions, coaches have  freedom of movement and billions are on the table—it’s too late for football and basketball, perhaps even WBB.

It’s not just college sports but all of higher ed—and the trillions in government subsidies that hooks kids on loans, where admin staff has grown more than NIL, and learning how to think critically with respect has been subordinated to Bolshevist group think and control. 

When I look at the current campus protests, these are in no small measure the same people who protested the “Colonial” moniker and who you acquiesced to rather than defend western civilization ideals of searching for the truth and free exchange of ideas.  Oh, and many are blatantly anti-Semitic, but we’ve already seen how academia distinguishes between different types of hate speech and takes swift action against some and looks the other way at others. 

You reap what you sow on all of these matters. Today, GWMBB feels like a lost love that ain’t ever coming back. There are so many smart, caring people on this board trying to make things better and build better communities. Alas, I can’t help but think our energies should be spent on a new love.