Every time NCAA officials consider a new rule, they make a point of being fair to everyone in the organization. That means they want to the rule to be fair for Alabama and South Alabama. Auburn and Southern Miss.
But that’s not enough. How about somebody actually considering what’s best for the players. Or, to take it a step further, what’s good for the high school coaches and programs that deliver players to fill college rosters?
Three rules were recently passed by the NCAA Division I Council. All three rules are bad for high schools.
First, if a university hires a high school coach for an off-field position, that university can’t recruit a player from the coach’s previous high school. That makes it fair for all colleges, but reduces the choices for the players from that high school for the next two years.
Second, high school coaches are now not allowed to coach at summer camps on college campuses. This hurts high school coaches, who use this time to build relationships with college staffs and share coaching ideas that benefit everybody.
Third, the early signing period approved for December 20-22 simply means that more the recruiting process, visits and hype is going to take place during the season, when high school players and coaches should be concentrating more on their seasons and less on recruiting.
The same happens when the NBA or NFL set rules without regard for what happens at the college level. The difference is that those pro leagues don’t have to pretend to have the best interest of the student-athletes at heart.
For Threaded Fasteners, I’m Randy Kennedy with Nuts and Bolts of the Game.
