NCAA rule change may bring more foreign players
The influx of international-born players into college athletic programs has triggered a proposed change that would allow NCAA coaches in most sports to recruit athletes from professional teams.
(Talk about the proposed NCAA change in our forums)
According to ESPN: Michael Rogers, chair of the NCAA Division I Amateurism Cabinet, said that coaches associations have lined up behind his group’s recommendation to open college sports to prospects who come up through clubs that include professional athletes, but didn’t receive salaries.
The move is aimed at athletes outside of the U.S.A., where it is common for prospects to join professional club teams at a young age to help develop their skills.
Under the current rules, athletes can jeopardize their amateur status and NCAA eligibility by just playing alongside a teammate who received “more than actual and necessary expenses” from that club.
The proposal, introduced back in June, is under review by the NCAA constituency. Coaches associations are key stakeholders, and those with tennis, volleyball and football have either signaled support or formally registered no concern. So far, only hockey has balked at the proposal, which will be amended to exempt that sport, Rogers said.
International athletes have long helped NCAA programs chase national championships, from the University of Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon in basketball in the 1980s to University of Arizona golfer Annika Sorenstam in the 1990s. But with the rise of the Internet as a recruiting tool, their numbers have exploded. There are now about 10,000 foreign athletes in Division I, three times as many as there were a decade ago. A few teams — such as the Baylor women’s tennis team — are made up entirely of foreigners.
If approved, the new rule would go into effect in August 2010. To read more about this proposed NCAA rule change, go to ESPN.
DONT make this about foreign players. That kind of laziness just indicates you’re not too bright and appeals to those people who want to blame someone for their kid not getting the scholarship or playing slot they obviously didn’t deserve.
Same as with everything in college sport this is about teams wanting to win at all costs. The foreign players didn’t petition for this rule and they’re not the ones who are going to benefit most. This IS about American educational institutions finding another way to discriminate against American students because it’s more important to win immediately than to develop players.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Leah, what you say may be true, but this is about bringing in more foreign players, the continued globalization of the sport, and staying competitive (as you call it “winning”) to not only bring the brightest athletes but the brightest minds to the USA.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
admin,
“the brightest minds”? I’m sorry, but that is completely and utterly laughable . We are not talking about a situation where the potential students are chosen based on their intellectual merits, not at all. They will be selected based on their athletic prowess, nothing more.
Seriously, I can’t even believe you said that. Are you trying to tell us that America is so devoid of intellectual talent we need to import more basketballers? That’s just hilarious.
You’ve also got to ask the question (based on your comments) – ‘stay competitive with who?’. If you mean a college that struggles to attract American talent staying competitive with ones that can then it raises the question of ‘why’ do they need to stay competitive? If you’re talking about revenue sports there’s some sense to it (logically, not morally). But, really, how many revenue sports are there that need international athletes? Only basketball can benefit from it. Other sports like tennis will get a huge boost but they’re the antithesis of a revenue sport.
End of the day, this is a situation where college basketball is getting greedy. In order to be more successful the teams need access to better players than are found in the States. Those schools that can’t attract the best state-side want a slice of the pie so they need to look recruit for talent (basketball, not academic talent) internationally. So, in order to do that they’ll push for a rule that damages other sports.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:44 pm
You are making a lot of assumptions on what I have said and also putting words into my mouth. The core argument here is that the rule is bringing international talent to the states, in order to stay competitive as basketball (and other sports) continue to spread across the world. It doesn’t make sense to make a player ineligible when other countries have a system that brings up players through club teams, something we would consider non-amateur.
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
admin,
I’ve most certainly not put words in your mouth. However, what you’ve said has been so vague and poorly defined there’s no option but to make assumptions. Firstly, you haven’t made any reasoned argument as to why college basketball, or any other college sport, needs to “stay competitive”. You haven’t even said what it has to stay competitive with (if you mean that the pro players will be better if the college competition is stronger, just say so). Secondly, you most certainly have suggested that bringing in foreign athletes means you’re also bringing in the finest minds – a contention we know is absolute rubbish. If you got caught up in your own rhetoric, fine, just admit it and we’ll move on.
End of the day, if you’re going to say that something is beneficial you’ve actually got to put together a supporting argument. You also need to be far more transparent. Refusing to say who will benefit and why , makes it seem as though you’ve got something to hide. In truth, I think you’re pushing an agenda that benefits one sport at the expense of many others. It’s up to you to show why that isn’t the case.
October 25th, 2009 at 3:55 pm