Photo by Darron Cummings, Associated Press

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Board of Governors and Division 1 Board of Directors met at the beginning of last month to adapt a new series of policies. Among the new policy changes is a new rule allowing high school and college basketball players to be represented by agents. The change is effective immediately and players are eligible to represented by an agent beginning after any basketball season if they request an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. With these changes, not only are players allowed agents, but the role of the agent has been slightly altered.

Agents themselves are given the ability to pay for meals and transportation for players and their families if the expenses are related to the agent selection process. However, the student cannot miss class, and the money must be spent where the student lives or attends school. High school and college students and their families are able to have meals, transportation and lodging paid for by an agent if the expenses are associated with the meetings of said agent or meetings with collegiate or pro teams.

All agreements between the agents and student athletes must be in writing and terminated by the time the student enrolls or returns to school. This means the deals must be disclosed to the NCAA for high school students to their arrival at school or to the school itself for the students who are already in college.

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Previously, collegiate athletes who were interested in going pro have been able to declare for the draft and attend the NBA combine, but have been required to withdraw no more than 10 days after the combine to stay eligible. Now, students with hopes of entering the draft are also required to request an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee. This request will provide valuable information to assist student-athletes in making the decision to turn pro or stay in school.

During the aforementioned meeting, the NCAA also took time to enhance its enforcement of the rulebook, making penalties more severe, adding independent investigators for “complex” cases and allowing the NCAA investigators to accept information established by another administrative body, such as a court of law, government agency, accrediting body or commission authorized by a school. According to USA Today, this could definitely come into play as the FBI’s investigation into college basketball corruption moves into courtrooms over the next several months, the result of four assistant coaches being arrested.

It seems like rumors are always flying around the world of college basketball. In order to increase transparency, the board approved alterations to the summer basketball calendar with sponsorships, such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armor, with a new disclosure requiring companies and coaches to reveal who is paying for what and how much money is being exchanged.

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Other changes from the meeting included: college players are to remain shut out from fair market compensation for the commercial use of their name, image and likeness. This limits eligible players who could spark antitrust, equal protection and Title IX problems. The NCAA is relying in part on the NBA and NBPA to make their own rule changes that could prevent future “bribes”.