The Commission on College Basketball recommended to the NCAA sweeping changes to college basketball in response to a fraud and bribery scandal that has shaken the core of the sport.
A look at the recommendations:
- Work with the NBA to lift the league’s so-called one-and-done rule that requires players be at least 19 years old and a year removed from high school to be draft eligible.
- Allow players to enter the draft out of high school or after any college season, and to return to their school if they go undrafted.
- Create degree completion programs, with the NCAA paying for players to finish their degree if they complete at least two years of college.
- Create a vice presidential level position in the NCAA to oversee a program for certifying agents.
- Allow and encourage access to certified agents to high school and college players to help athletes and their families make more informed choices about professional opportunities.
- Create independent investigative and adjudicative body to address and resolve complex and serious cases involving NCAA violations.
- Impose stiffer penalties for serious rules violations to deter future rule-breakers, including: Increased competition penalties for Level I violations to allow a five-year post-season ban; increased financial penalties for Level I violations to allow loss of all revenue sharing in postseason play for the entire period of the ban; increased penalties for a show-cause order to allow lifetime bans; increased penalties for head coach restrictions to allow bans of more than one season; increased penalties for recruiting visit violations to allow full-year visit bans.
- Schools that employ a coach and administrator under a show-cause order from a previous school would be at risk to receive the harshest penalties if NCAA violations occur under that coach or administrator.
- Through their contracts, require coaches and athletic directors to comply with NCAA investigations.
- Require coaches, athletic directors and university presidents to certify annually they have conducted due diligence and their athletic programs comply with NCAA rules.
- Adopt and enforce rigorous criteria for so-called non-scholastic basketball, such as summer recruiting events and AAU leagues. Event owners, sponsors and coaches must agree to financial transparency.
- Ban college coaches from non-certified non-scholastic basketball events.
- Work with USA basketball and the NBA to create NCAA-run recruiting events in the summer.
- Work with USA Basketball and the NBA to evaluate pre-college players.
- Adopt recommended rule changes made by the National Association of Basketball Coaches that increase interaction between college coaches and recruits.
- Add five public members with full voting privileges to the NCAA Board of Governors, currently comprised of 16 university presidents.
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