On Sunday, reports surfaced of the NCAA considering some significant changes to the foundational landscape of college athletics.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the NCAA is considering adding a new eligibility rule to preserve redshirts for all athletes across all sports.
“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,” Dellenger wrote. “The documents will be reviewed this coming week during a video call of the NCAA Division I Council.”
Included in the discussion are the ideas of athletes being able to participate in five playing seasons and still preserve their redshirt, athletes being able to earn prize money before they enroll in college, and the elimination of the National Letter of Intent.
While football athletes have the ability to play up to four games and still preserve a redshirt season, the model does not exist for basketball, baseball, and other sports, excluding wrestling. If approved, sport-specific NCAA committees will tackle the task of determining where to set the number of games played mark.
With college athletics rapidly changing in the era of the transfer portal, one aspect of the high school recruiting scene undergoing some changes is the National Letter of Intent. Under the new proposal, the bulk of the NLI will be included in university financial aid and scholarship agreements.
The ideas proposed above cover just a few aspects of college athletics undergoing changes. The changes are expected to fall under a year-long NCAA review of the college sports landscape following the House settlement decision.
