NCAA To Vote On Significant Rule Changes In January

The NCAA has been a corrupt, overbearing establishment for as long as it has existed but, finally, it seems that public pressure has started to force them to make changes. In January, the board of NCAA officials will vote on whether to change several rules that have been the source of much criticism. Some of these potential changes include allowing athletes to profit from their likeness, which they were not able to before, and getting rid of the one-season ban for transfer students, at least for the first time they transfer.

While this is good news and progress, it feels a little ridiculous that it took this long for the NCAA to stop suspending students for making $5 off of an autograph or make any sort of commission from the jerseys that are sold with their names on the backs. There have been countless ridiculous stories involving incidents like this, but the weird thing is that this has been an issue with athletes for a long time. One of the main reasons that Chris Webber, college basketball legend and member of the infamous Fab Five, left the University of Michigan was that the university was making millions off of his and his teammates’ likenesses, and he was struggling to survive.

Hopefully, these initiatives will actually be passed and put into place sooner rather than later, but at this point, I have stopped putting my faith in the NCAA to do the right thing. Other initiatives include:

— Extending eligibility for winter sports athletes, giving them all an extra year because of disruptions to their seasons caused by COVID-19. That decision falls in line with similar ones made in April for spring sport athletes who had much of their seasons wiped out at the start of the pandemic and for fall sport athletes whose season have been delayed or altered because of COVID-19.

— Approving a recommendation by the football oversight committee to waive bowl eligibility requirements for this season.

— Introducing legislation for the allocation of championship resources.

— Supporting the expansion of the men’s and women’s basketball selection committees.