The University of Idaho athletic department will abstain from an online vote that will decide the fate of proposed four-year guaranteed scholarships for student-athletes, according to Athletic Director Rob Spear.
The vote opened Monday to all Division I institutions, but is not mandatory. If 222 of 355 D-1 institutions vote in favor of the override petition, they would overturn NCAA legislation allowing schools to offer more than one-year renewable scholarships that are the current standard.
Spear expressed concerns about the NCAA proposal’s flexibility. He said institutions would be limited in their ability to grant four-year awards to athletes, and the proposal could affect recruiting.
“We need to have the flexibility to terminate multi-year awards if the students don’t live up, academically or off the field,” Spear said. “If there is coaching turnover and the student-athlete doesn’t fit the system, that also (presents complications).”
Since the legislation passed in October 2011, schools have been able to offer multi-year scholarships to athletes, but this proposal would make it mandatory. Idaho, for instance, only offered one-year renewable scholarships to the 2012 football recruiting class.
The University of Illinois, on the other hand, offered four-year guarantees at the behest of Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney.
“We felt like it wasn’t really any different from the practical application of what we have always done,” said Ryan Squire, Illinois’ compliance director.
Four-year guarantees protect student-athletes from being released from scholarship based on on-field performance.
Squire said Illinois included stipulations in the scholarship agreements that allowed the institution to terminate the scholarships for academic and behavioral reasons.
“I think it sends a good message to our student-athletes and our general public about the regard that we have for our student-athletes. That’s kind of the intent,” Squire said.
Washington State University’s Ken Casavant, who will cast WSU’s override vote, said language regarding behavior and academic obligations in the NCAA’s proposal is essential for this kind of scholarship process to work.
“For us to have to an athlete who is awful in academics, awful in lifestyle, but we cannot move him along, makes no sense at all,” Casavant said.
Casavant said he anticipates that Washington State will offer multi-year awards on a case-by-case basis and that competitive pressure will make other schools do the same.
“All of this from my perspective is that it’s better for the student-athlete,” he said.
Spear said for Idaho, a four-year scholarship that holds student-athletes accountable would be no difference than what is offered now, but that the department still needs to sit down with all of the coaches to get the right input.
“There is a desire to make it happen, but it is hard to predict what it will look like if and when it goes through, and if it will be right for Idaho,” Spear said.
If the override vote is successful, the proposal will go back to the NCAA which will address why it was vetoed by institutions before it is potentially re-instituted.