You're not going to believe this, but the NCAA has passed a rule that might
actually HELP some college hockey players, although probably not the sport
of college hockey itself.  The _USA Today_ reports that college athletes may
now negotiate with pro sports teams, and if the athletes do not sign, they
can resume their college careers without losing any eligibility.  In the
past, an athlete who negotiated or even made overtures to a pro team for-
feited all of his or her remaining eligibility.  Underclass athletes still
cannot hire agents, though.
 
This new rule is a rarity in the NCAA in that it is much more of a benefit
to a college hockey player than to a college football or basketball player.
Currently, the NFL and NBA have policies which prohibit teams from drafting
underclassmen unless they have declared themselves eligible (and thus have
forfeited their college eligibility), but the NHL has no such policy.  There
are currently quite a few college players who have been drafted by NHL
teams, and this rule means they are now permitted to talk business and
return to their college teams if they don't sign a pro contract.
 
There have been many complaints in the past about the NCAA's attitudes to
underclass athletes "testing the waters".  It has been pointed out in the
past that, say, an underclass engineering student could go out and talk to
prospective employers without suffering any penalty, but underclass athletes
were prohibited from doing basically the same thing with professional sports
teams.  The new rule at least makes things a little fairer in that regard,
and it is probably only the first step.  NCAA executive director Dick
Schultz and Charles Theokas, chairman of the NCAA's professional sports
liaison committee, are predicting that next year the NCAA will vote on
allowing underclassmen to actually enter a draft and retain their college
eligibility if they do not sign contracts (that rule would have more of an
effect on football and basketball than on hockey).
--
Bill Fenwick                        |  Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to:
Cornell '86 and probably '94        |  [log in to unmask]
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