Andy Oliver Decision

This decision is now a few weeks old, but a judge in Ohio state court declared the NCAA’s “no agent” rule void because it was arbitrary and capricious.  Andy Oliver, a pitcher at Oklahoma State, challenged the rule after he was declared ineligible the night before he was scheduled to pitch in an NCAA Tournament game.  Rule 12.3 of the NCAA’s bylaws state that a student-athlete cannot be represented by an agent to negotiate a contract with a professional team, but the rules do allow the student-athlete to use a lawyer as long as the lawyer is not present during negotiation.  Oliver ran into trouble because he had a lawyer present during negotiations with the Minnesota Twins after being drafted as a high school senior.

The use of agents by college baseball players has become an interesting phenomenon because players are permitted to use “advisors.”  Advisors are supposed to merely help the student-athlete determine the merits of an offer, but there is practically no difference between agent and advisor.  In fact, powerful agents, such as Scott Boras, also serve as advisors for top draftees.

The NCAA responded to the ruling by stating “We are disappointed in the judge’s ruling. The bylaws related to agent relationships are important principles our colleges and universities have established to protect and preserve amateurism standards. We intend to seek a review of the decision by a higher court, and we are hopeful these significant standards will be preserved.”  The NCAA is expected to fully appeal the decision

Oliver returned to action for Oklahoma State on February 21 against BYU.  He pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run while striking out 11.  The judge’s decision also invalidated the NCAA’s restitution rule, so Oklahoma State likely does not have to worry about any possible repurcussions due to its certifying Oliver eligible to participate.

Here is Judge Tone’s decision if you wish to read it yourself.

Daily Links

Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis explained why a student manager was caught with a laptop in the team’s coaching box. During last Saturday’s game at Michigan State, the Spartans spotted a laptop in the Fightin Irish’ coaching box, which is a violation of NCAA rules.

The Arizona Daily Star has an interesting article explaining the process of reporting violations to the NCAA.  Last week, Arizona reported secondary violations involving a letter that men’s basketball coach Lute Olson wrote a fundraising letter for a prep basketball tournament.

Richmond Self-Reports Major Violations

The University of Richmond self-reported violating the NCAA’s ban on text messaging prospective student-athletes, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. According to the report, Richmond discovered violations in the men’s basketball program in November 2007 and self-reported the violations to the NCAA.  The NCAA then instructed the school to audit phone logs for all sports, which led to the discovery of violations in the women’s basketball program. In August 2007,  the NCAA banned the use of text messaging by coaches to communicate with prospective student-athletes (Rule 13.4.1.2).

Furthermore, after conducting this audit, Richmond and the NCAA found that a member of the men’s basketball staff exceeded the number of calls allowed to prospective student-athlete. Absent an exception, coaches are limited to making just one telephone call per week (Rule 13.1.3).