As I'd promised last week, I looked into the matter of "providing a benefit" (a
beer, a good deal on a car, etc.) to a former college student-athlete.
 
The short of it is:  there's no specific rule against such acts of good will.
There is a rule concerning deferred benefits ("Play for us and there'll be a
new car in your driveway one year after you graduate...").  Bascially, once a
student-athlete's eligibility is concluded, and he/she is no longer a
student-athlete, there is no NCAA jurisdiction.  So it would appear it's indeed
okay to buy a beer for a former player.  Indeed, a number of schools have a
policy of providing non-athletic scholarship aid to students who have completed
their eligibility but have not graduated, so that they can complete their
education.
 
Having said this, however, I would add a caveat:  NCAA member institutions and
boosters ("representatives of athletics interests") are under jurisdiction,
always.  I haven't gone through the rule interpretations book, but wouldn't be
surprised to see some interpretations that frown on unusual benefits by
institutions to former student-athletes.  Regarding the example that Mike cited
(an ass't. AD at UNLV wanting to pay off a former player's dental bills), I
suppose I'm not surprised.  Anything UNLV would have asked the NCAA back then
would have received extraordinary attention.
 
Final note:  the NCAA defines a "representative of the institution's athletics
interests" as:  1) member/participant in a booster organization; 2) a financial
contributer to the athletics program or a booster organization; 3) be assisting
in the recruitment of student-athletes; or (catch-22) "involved otherwise" in
promoting the institution's athletics.  Purchasing a game ticket (or season
ticket -- or subscribing to HOCKEY-L -- doesn't make one a "representative."
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Stephen E. Roth                                 BITNET:   ROTH@CANISIUS
Dean of Student Services
Canisius College                                     PHONE:  (716) 888-2522
Buffalo, New York 14208                                FAX:  (716) 888-2525
---------------------------------------------------------------------------