USATSI
A modified version of the NCAA rule allowing football players to compete in up to four regular-season games during their redshirt year could be coming to other sports. The concept is part of several potential changes to NCAA eligibility rules that may be implemented as part of the historic House vs. NCAA settlement, according to documents obtained by Yahoo Sports.
It’s become commonplace in college football for players to appear in four games — or 33% of a team’s regular-season contests — during their freshman season and then be considered redshirt freshmen the following season. If the 33% mark were applied to basketball, that would allow players to participate in roughly 10 games without losing a season of eligibility.
If the NCAA chooses to adopt the principle for other sports, sport-specific groups would set the exact threshold of game participation, according to Yahoo. In theory, however, it would afford basketball coaches the chance to give freshmen in-game reps during nonconference action in November or in blowouts without blowing an entire season worth of eligibility for the player.
The potential change is among several alterations to eligibility standards that could be coming in the wake of the House settlement. Among the other proposals addressed in the documents would be a measure allowing athletes to retain their eligibility even if they were paid for competing outside of college sports before enrolling.
An elimination of the National Letter of Intent is also being proposed with a new model that brings a player’s recruitment to an end, according to multiple reports. Under that new proposed model, the “core benefits” of the NLI will be instead incorporated into financial aid and scholarship agreements.
The NCAA Division I Council is set to review the documents during a call this week.
