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A Better Athletics Major

Calls to let athletes major in sports are nothing new, and make a lot of sense. Artistic majors are nothing new, and the chances of making it as a professional athlete are similar to those of making it as a ballet star, musician, or blockbuster artist. The arguments against athletics majors are just as well […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


McNair’s Defamation Case Could Lead to More Transparency for the NCAA

In recent years transparency has become one of the buzzwords in NCAA criticism. Transparency is held out either as an end by itself (i.e. “The NCAA should release all information about investigations.”) and as a means to another (i.e. “Transparency would solve the athlete major clustering problem.”). The NCAA has moved toward being more open […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


NCAA Regulation on Timing of Realignment Needed

No one likes conference realignment except the conference adding a school and the school on the move. At any given time, everyone else hates the idea. The conference losing the school has to respond, and other conferences/schools get nervous. Even the schools welcoming a new member see diluted schedules and in some cases a long […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


Business As Usual for NCAA DII and DIII Legislation

The normal Division I legislative process is on hold this year, although the Rule Working Group proposals are due to be voted on by the Division I Board of Directors in January. And while the Rules Working Group proposals are important, the bigger changes are coming next year and there are far fewer than in […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


Why Third Party Relationships Are the NCAA’s Biggest Issue

Increasingly the NCAA is treading into a grey area. The association is asking more and more about the who behind a student-athlete or prospect rather than the what. As more and more student-athletes are having to sit out and repay expenses, the issue is coming to the fore. And the NCAA must wrestle with how […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws, NCAA Penalties


The “Booster” Designation Has Outlived Its Usefulness

In the wake of the suspensions to Peter Jurkin and Hanner Perea, people are asking the NCAA a lot of questions. One of those questions, “Did you hammer these kids because you could not prove IU did anything wrong?” will never have a satisfying answer for anyone who asks it. Another one of those questions, […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


Dysfunctional CHLPA Going the Long Way Around NCAA Rules

A student-athlete union is the holy grail of would-be NCAA reformers. All that is needed is for student-athletes to unionize, the theory goes, and the money and protection will flow undisturbed. In truth, creating a certified union of student-athletes, despite the current legal hurdles, is probably the easiest piece of the puzzle. Winning the collective […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


Outsourcing NCAA Enforcement Not a Silver Bullet

Stephen Miller’s article about the need for the NCAA to outsource its enforcement efforts has been getting the rounds as the most recent definitive take down of the NCAA. It is good in that it is focused on one aspect of the NCAA, gives a decent example or two, and offers some actionable advice for […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws, NCAA Penalties


Could Division II’s Academic Ideas Work in Division I?

NCAA Division I has a big change coming to initial eligibility in 2016. But in Division II, the focus is on both initial eligibility for freshmen and progress-toward-degree rules for continuing students and transfers. Division II will work on these concepts over the next year and potentially vote on legislation in January 2014. Initially, a […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws


A Student-Focused NCAA Needs an Athletics Majors

As part of a larger series on reinventing college, Brad Wolverton of the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote a piece about creating a student-focused NCAA. As arguments for NCAA reform go, it is decidedly on the side of turning athletics back to the core mission of the university rather than embracing the business side. The piece […]

Posted in Bylaw Blog, Bylaws



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