BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
Warren Zolaās ideas for some of the rules in a theoretical new top level of college athletics sound nice. They touch on a lot of the buzzwords and pain points that have become prominent over the last few years. And increased financial aid, in the form of stipends or full cost-of-attendance scholarships, is the driving force behind the talk about a split of Division Iās big tent.
This post was originally supposed to be about the other changes that might differentiate āDivision Xā from Division I. A new division or even association would be the best opportunity to rethink the entire Division I manual. But every idea, like dropping the Eligibility Center, loosening academic requirements, deregulating coaching limits, and fiddling with playing and practice seasons all ran into the same problem. It is highly unlikely that the parties involved want that kind of major change.
Even most of Zolaās ideas would be quickly dismissed when the athletic directors, presidents, and conference commissioners convened to write the Division X rule book.
If Georgia is afraid of letting Alabama have more recruiting staff, any version of professionalization is off the table. We might see expanded insurance and scholarship programs, but not to the degree Zola proposes. Agents for enrolled student-athletes is a nonstarter with that group.
Larger athletics scholarships are not a part of the push for a new division. They are not even the tipping point. It is the entire issue. Stipends may just be a MacGuffin, a way to give concentrating more revenue and exposure amongst a smaller group of schools a populist makeover.
Read More Here...
This post was originally supposed to be about the other changes that might differentiate āDivision Xā from Division I. A new division or even association would be the best opportunity to rethink the entire Division I manual. But every idea, like dropping the Eligibility Center, loosening academic requirements, deregulating coaching limits, and fiddling with playing and practice seasons all ran into the same problem. It is highly unlikely that the parties involved want that kind of major change.
Even most of Zolaās ideas would be quickly dismissed when the athletic directors, presidents, and conference commissioners convened to write the Division X rule book.
If Georgia is afraid of letting Alabama have more recruiting staff, any version of professionalization is off the table. We might see expanded insurance and scholarship programs, but not to the degree Zola proposes. Agents for enrolled student-athletes is a nonstarter with that group.
Larger athletics scholarships are not a part of the push for a new division. They are not even the tipping point. It is the entire issue. Stipends may just be a MacGuffin, a way to give concentrating more revenue and exposure amongst a smaller group of schools a populist makeover.
Read More Here...
