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NCAA announces major changes stemming from FBI’s investigation of college hoops
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In 2017, the federal investigation into fraud in college basketball recruiting made it clear that the NCAA had to make some changes. In April, the Commission of College Basketball made recommendations of new policies the NCAA could adopt, and those were announced today.
According to NCAA leaders, these changes are to promote the integrity of the game, strengthen accountability and prioritize the interests of student-athletes.
Among the biggest changes, the NCAA announced that it will now allow “elite” high school and college prospects to be represented by an agent. An “elite” prospect, which will be identified by USA Basketball, can hire an agent beginning July 1 before their senior year in high school. These agents must be certified by an NCAA program, however.
Another huge change is that players can be eligible for the NBA Draft and return to school if they go unselected.
Overall, these new policies were adopted to provide flexibility for student-athletes, minimize harmful outside influences and to implement a more efficient, binding enforcement system as well as promote stronger accountability.
You can read the full announcement along with the new policies on NCAA.org.
Jordan Dajani covers SEC football for Saturday Down South and is a University of Tennessee graduate. He also has experience working in the NBA and with ESPN.
