BIG EAST Releases Recommendations to College Basketball Commission

NEW YORK -- The BIG EAST Conference today released a series of recommendations aimed at reforming the recruiting process in men’s college basketball and restructuring the pathway for elite men’s basketball players in the United States. The recommendations are in response to the charge issued by the NCAA to the Commission on College Basketball in October 2017 and the request by the NCAA for feedback on the charge from its membership.

“The journey of men’s basketball players as they move from youth basketball, to high school and/or travel teams, to college basketball, and then to the pros is ripe for overhaul,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “Our recommendations are designed to help improve the pathway for these young men as they pursue their dreams and to solidify the future of a great sport that, as March Madness always shows, is embraced passionately by universities and fans around the country.”

The BIG EAST recommendations were developed under the leadership of an internal working group made up of Conference athletics directors, men’s basketball coaches and Conference Office staff. Lee Reed, Georgetown University Director of Athletics and working group chair, said: “All ten BIG EAST institutions have the highest commitment to men’s basketball, and we want to provide the best possible avenue for players to achieve their personal and professional goals. We believe our recommendations can help minimize undue influences in the college game, restore integrity to the recruiting process and improve the overall management of key oversight and enforcement functions.”

The recommendations include the following:

· Modification of the NBA draft rule . The NCAA should urge the NBA and National Basketball Players Association to create a “none or two” draft eligibility rule to afford elite players greater flexibility to explore their professional options directly out of high school. Players electing to enroll in an NCAA institution would become eligible for the NBA draft following their second NCAA season.

· New summer recruiting model . The new model should launch in the summer of 2019 and allow for centralized control and efficient evaluation of pre-collegiate prospects.

· Modified apparel company relationships with universities . Apparel company contracts should require that income for coaches and administrators be paid through the university rather by apparel companies directly. The NCAA should also mandate specific disclosures from apparel companies before they can enter into contracts with NCAA institutions.

· Regulated role for advisors and agents . The NCAA should allow basketball student-athletes to retain the services of certified agents and advisors in a regulated framework to provide advice about their futures and guide them in their decisions about whether to enter the NBA draft.

· Beefed up enforcement resources (or an independent enforcement agency modeled after USADA) and more significant penalties for egregious rule violations . The NCAA should also promote more aggressively the importance of ethical conduct as a core value.

· Collaboration with USA Basketball, the sport’s national governing body, to improve the organizational structure and standards for pre-collegiate, non-scholastic basketball .

· Elite Player Unit within the NCAA to focus on the areas highlighted by the Commission’s charge . The new management unit should provide oversight of recruiting, agents and advisors, apparel company relationships, ethical conduct and branding strategies.

A full copy of the BIG EAST report can be found here .

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