New definition of 'amateurism' considered by NCAA
By Scott Street
Daily Bruin
LOS ANGELES (U-WIRE) -- The National Collegiate Athletic Association is
considering proposals that would change the definition of amateurism,
NCAA president Cedric Dempsey said at a Final Four press conference last
week in Indianapolis.
Athletes in violation of amateur standards were historically defined by
the NCAA as student athletes who competed professionally and/or accepted
money for their performances. Violations in recent years have ranged from
Olympians accepting prize money to athletes receiving assistance paying
for prep school tuition. A number of violations investigated this year by
the NCAA centered on youth basketball programs that introduced a number
of high school players to sports agents.
Dempsey told reporters gathered at the RCA Dome that the college sports'
governing body was considering several proposals, largely influenced by
the growing complexity of collegiate eligibility cases including those
involving this year's youth basketball.
"We need to start rebuilding the culture, wipe it out completely,"
Dempsey said. "We're going to change the culture and have the right
people making the right decisions of where these student athletes go to
school."
The NCAA is considering proposals, which would allow student athletes to
take out loans based on their future earning potential as professionals
and insure themselves against potentially career-ending injuries. The
proposals would also allow high school graduates who compete professionally
before enrolling at a university to go back to college and be eligible to
compete on the amateur level.
According to Jane Jankowski, Public Information Coordinator for the NCAA,
the proposals announced last week have been in the making for more than two
years following an increase in reinstatement requests filed by student
athletes who have violated the NCAA's standards for amateur athletes.
"We are trying to find a way to include these athletes as a result of
possible violations," Jankowski said.
Though Dempsey cited recent violations involving college basketball players
such as brothers Kareem and JaRon Rush when announcing the proposals,
Jankowski said that the legislation would cover all sports and was in
development long before this year's cases.
"This is something we were addressing before some of the most recent
eligibility cases," Jankowski said. "It is geared towards all of the
sports in the NCAA."
The NCAA had come under attack in recent months for their investigations
of several college basketball players, including UCLA's Rush, who was
initially suspended for 44 games for accepting money from a former AAU
youth basketball coach and a sports agent. The suspension was later
reduced to 24 games after UCLA filed an appeal.
The complexity of that case prompted UCLA Athletics Director Peter Dalis
to say Feb. 1, "You are talking about a young man who made a decision when
he was 16 or 17 years old ... to hold him accountable is difficult. The
intellectual separation cannot be made for a young man of that age."
The NCAA, as Dempsey noted, hopes that this new legislation could limit the
influence agents have on student athletes, in addition to loosening the strict
definition of amateurism the NCAA has held.
"It is going to take months of education," NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro told
The New York Times last week. "The notion of something that's been there 100
years, this concept of amateurism is a Holy Grail. The perception has been
that if you go play pro, you're dirty. This is a re-examination of that whole
question. Now we're going to say, you have to go take a shower."
Jankowski said that there has been mixed reaction from the NCAA membership
about the new proposals.
"Just as any type of proposal that involves change, this involves mixed
reactions," she said.
UCLA Associate Athletic Director Betsy Stephenson said that, while the
legislation is the most broad change the NCAA can potentially make, it
isn't the only answer.
"We're shifting the responsibility in a different way to try and stop
(violations) from happening. This presents another whole set of problems,"
she said.
The current proposals will be evaluated by the Division I management consul
in October before the NCAA's general membership can comment on them in
January 2001. The management consul would then make a final decision on
the proposals in April 2001 before they are sent to the Division I Board
of Directors.
Jankowski added that this fall, the NCAA will announce a similar set of
proposals relating to currently-enrolled students who have committed
violations regaining their eligibility.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.twbbs.org)
◆ From: ms11.hinet.net
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <
作者: Theodor (消失的神話) 看板: NCAA
標題: Re: [U-Wire] New definition of 'amateurism' cons …
時間: Fri Apr 7 16:33:43 2000
相關的中文報導（若覺得念英文太麻煩的話）
---------------------------------
NCAA準備整頓亂象
【圓球城市綜合外電報導】六十四強錦標賽進行得如火如荼，但內部紛擾的NCAA
(全美大專體總)已準備著手整頓大學籃壇亂象，將採取的措施將包括：改變獎學
金名額、限制招生，並重新定義所謂的"業餘身分"。此外也將全力配合國會，準
備禁止大學籃球的場外賭博。
然而，除了禁止賭博受到全體贊同外，其他各項提案都受到全美教練協會(NABC)
的反對。NCAA主席Cedric Dempsey並不感到意外，他說："改變通常總是令人畏懼
的。"
對"業餘身分"重新定義後，未來提前棄學打職業球的大學生，如果職業生涯不順
利，還可以重回大學打球。此外，每一年可提供的獎學金名額縮減為4名，夏天將
不得進行招生，以防止高中教練、街頭經紀人大行其道。
教練協會反對獎學金名額縮減，因為球員轉學的機會將大為減少。目前NCAA的規
定是每一隊都有13名獎學金名額，但不限制每年可以用幾個。
NCAA也考慮將球員畢業比例納入獎學金限額制度，例如：75%以上畢業者可獲14個
獎學金名額，33%-74%為13名，33%以下則只能有12名。然而畢業比例如何定義、
計算，產生另一個問題。
這些提案將於4月1日提報NCAA第一級大學管理委員會審查，並於明年1月在全國代
表大會中提出。
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.twbbs.org)
◆ From: ms11.hinet.net