Stipends for NCAA athletes looking likely

Opinion divided locally; some leagues could be at a disadvantage.

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By Kyle Nagel, Doug Harris and Pete Conrad, Staff Writers 2:34 AM Sunday, October 30, 2011

University of Dayton basketball player Kevin Dillard isn’t one to spend money on frivolous things, but even shopping just for the essentials can be a drain on his resources.

“It can be hard sometimes,” said Dillard, a junior guard from Homewood, Ill. “That’s when you’ve got to call Dad and Mom and see if they can help you out. ... You’ve got to budget — or you’ll go broke pretty quick.”

Dillard’s financial challenges could be lessened next year after the NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved a measure giving conferences the option of providing athletes with up to $2,000 in spending money annually, calling it an increase to cover the actual cost of attendance above what a full scholarship supplies.

School presidents and athletic directors in the Atlantic 10 will meet Wednesday to discuss the provision, which would go into effect Aug. 1. But while much is still unclear, the league almost certainly will allow schools to start paying their athletes a $2,000 stipend if the Bowl Championship Series conferences adopt it as expected.

“We’re a program that wants to be in a limelight on a great stage,” UD basketball coach Archie Miller said. “To do that, in terms of recruiting, you’ve got to keep up with the Joneses.”

The legislation passed Thursday at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis took on numerous facets of college athletics. They also included:

• Allowing unlimited text messaging and contact with recruits after June 15 of their sophomore years, while also adding a recruiting evaluation period in April and limiting the one in July.

• Creating a baseline Academic Progress Rate score for postseason participation.

• Increasing academic standards for junior-college transfers.

• Allowing schools to grant multi-year scholarships (they are currently one-year renewables).

• Giving coaches more on-campus contact with recruits and current players during summer.

Details for some new legislation will be finalized at a future date, but the intent of the movements was clear, Wright State President David Hopkins said: To show the NCAA is open to change that favors the players.

“I’d say they are very significant,” said Hopkins, one of 18 college chancellors or presidents on the Board of Directors. “I hesitate to use the word historic, but we’re serious about change, and we’re serious about positive experiences for our student-athletes in the collegiate model.”

The most talked-about move involved the $2,000 figure. Hopkins said specifics of that plan must be determined, largely by the conferences themselves. But the fact that it passed the Board of Directors created plenty of opinions and questions about what it could mean.

Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone, who is a member of the NCAA Division I Leadership Council that formed the recommendations to recruiting changes, said he must still communicate with conference members about the possible increased scholarship payment.

“In men’s and women’s basketball, I’m confident our schools would want to do it,” LeCrone said. “But I haven’t had that conversation with our league.”

UD covers about two-thirds of its $20.5 million athletic budget through revenues it generates. It awarded the equivalent of 92 scholarships this school year, including a combined 39 full rides in men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball. The other sports generally divide their scholarship allotments throughout the team through partial athletic aid.

“We’re (in) the No. 7 conference in the country in men’s basketball,” UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said. “Assuming everybody above us and certainly those conferences around us are going to be doing this, it just seems pretty evident what the Atlantic 10 Conference is going to do. And I’m for that, by the way.

“Sure, it’s a challenge for the University of Dayton, but at the other end, we’ve made a commitment to those programs to play at the national level. We just have to figure out how you’re going to do it.”

Wright State basketball coach Billy Donlon said he stresses to his players that a full scholarship is valuable if they take advantage of it, but he also likes to reward the players for their sacrifice.

“What I don’t think some people realize is basketball is one of the only college sports that goes through both semesters,” Donlon said. “They never have a Thanksgiving, or maybe a very, very short one. Some of that $2,000 could allow players to pick schools at great distance, because it could help with travel home.”

Others echoed the argument that the full athletic scholarship has plenty of value for the players if they take advantage of it.

“My problem is, when you talk in terms (of student-athletes not getting their fair share), you dilute the value of a college education,” said Miami University Athletic Director Brad Bates. “An education at Miami University is a very, very valuable resource.”

Miami coach Charlie Coles believes some leagues could be at a disadvantage.

“Let’s say our conference for some reason can’t do it but others do,” Coles said. “I don’t think that’s fair. ... I think you’re opening up a whole can of worms.”

Hopkins said the Board of Directors will consider more action as soon as January during the NCAA’s annual convention. It hopes to streamline the massive NCAA rulebook into a more easily digestable set of rules so overall values trump nit-picking.

“We have to get down to, ‘Here are the guiding principles of the collegiate model,’ ” Hopkins said. “And, to make sure these coaches and officials understand, if you just disregard the rules, you’ll pay for it.”

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