NCAA Stiffens Penalties for Violations: Student Athletes Take Notice
News is still coming from the very productive NCAA Convention last week. The NCAA has moved forward with a rule that is going to make the penalties for violations significantly worse.
The CBS article uses the USC recruiting violations as an example of how the new stiffer penalties would affect a program. To me, there are three areas that would have the biggest effect on a current or potential student athlete.
1. Scholarships
There would be a loss of thirty-two to forty-two scholarships per year under the new penalties as opposed to the five scholarships lost under the past regulations.
2. Recruiting
There would have been a 37.5 to 50 percent reduction in recruiting activity and not the measly 15 percent reduction seen under the old penalties.
3. Competition
USC football was restricted from taking part in postseason play for two years; under the new rules, they would have been restricted from playing in the postseason for three years.
The take-home message for athletes and families is that the NCAA is really getting serious about enforcing their rules, and you need to report violations to your athletic program. Because the USC violations were reoccurring and continued violations, the penalties were very steep. Had someone at the USC reported one of the violations the first time they happened, the penalties would have not been near as severe.
Under the old rules, if you weren’t the athlete violating the rules, the effects weren’t program altering, you lost a couple scholarships a year and a couple of bowl games. The new penalties have the ability to affect several athletes who may have had nothing to do with the violations. It’s your duty as an athlete for your program and for the safety of your scholarship that you report violations sooner rather than later.
Alcorn State University. Sports Recruiting.
What do you think, are the new rules too unfair? Should the actions of one or two athletes be allowed to affect so many other student athletes? Let me know in the comments section below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.