Four Proposals Start the Override Process
The override period for the proposals adopted by the Board of Directors in January ended today with a total of four proposals being sent back for reconsideration. Along with 13–2 not being adopted, that means 21 of the 26 initial deregulation proposals are finalized.
Two proposals, RWG–11–2 and RWG 13–5-A were suspended earlier this week by the Board of Directors despite having not yet met the 75 request threshold for reconsideration. They are also suspended, meaning they will not become active until or unless the Board of Directors reintroduce them, which should be coming potentially in August.
Two other proposals, RWG–11–3-B and RWG–13–3 received over 75 override requests and will also go back to the Board of Directors for reconsiderations. RWG–13–3 received the lion’s share of the attention between these two proposals, as it would have permitted unlimited phone calls and text messages to high school seniors. RWG–13–3 ended with 83 override requests.
RWG–11–3-B would have prohibited in-person scouting except during doubleheader sessions. In-person scouting currently has a confusing set of rules. Scouting is mostly prohibited in football, basketball, and women’s volleyball. In lacrosse, one scouting trip for one staff member per opponent is allowed. For all other sports, scouting is permitted, but the school is not allowed to pay for it. Coaches will often go scout opponents on their own dime, especially if they play locally. This self-financed scouting is especially prevalent in soccer.
RWG–11–3-B was designed to unify all the sports under one set of rules where in-person scouting was more or less prohibited. An alternative proposal, RWG–11–3-A, would have allowed unlimited in-person scouting, so long as it was performed by one of the countable coaches. RWG–11–3-B ended with 94 override requests.
As far as what the Board of Directors will do, RWG–13–3 has two options. Given that much of the objection involves football, that sport may be removed and the proposal reintroduced. The Board of Directors might also let it ride and go to an override vote where a significantly greater number of schools would need to object to kill the proposal. Besides removing football, there are not many modifications to the proposal the BOD could make.
There are a broader range of options for RWG–11–3-B. Sports could be removed, although that does not solve the problem of multiple scouting rules. Some version of RWG–11–3-A could be introduced, perhaps with the lacrosse limit of one scouting trip per opponent. A longer term solution would be for the NCAA to handle some of the scouting burden by setting up a service that makes it easy for schools to obtain film on opponents and which obligates schools to provide the film.
The Board of Directors meets next on May 2. An override vote, which is preceded by a week-long override comment period, would likely be conducted in late May or early June.