Days after Donald Trump’s college sports commission plan, NCAA president signals support: "Up for anything that helps us get somewhere"

NCAA president Charlie Baker has expressed support for a government plan to create a college sports commission that will address matters concerning college athletics.

Baker welcomed the initiative and noted that government oversight over the matter helps a lot. The former Massachusetts governor hopes the measure will provide proper guidelines college programs should consider in forming a team for every season.

"I guess I think the fact that there’s an interest on the executive side on this, I think it speaks to the fact that everybody is paying a lot of attention right now to what’s going on in college sports," Baker said.

"There is a lot going on, that’s not all bad, and I’m up for anything that helps us get somewhere."

Recent reports suggest US President Donald Trump is considering the creation of a commission that will handle matters concerning college sports.

Baker, though, stopped short of commenting about NIL legislation but pointed out that the NCAA has sought congressional assistance over three major issues, including laws on how collegiate athletics operate in different states and how student-athletes are classified for employment.

He also indicated that there have been meetings over the matter, but he isn't hoping that a resolution to the issue will be released anytime soon.

If the initiative pushes through, the commission would look into issues related to the transfer portal, booster payments and composition of conferences and their media deals.

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ACC chief backs congressional oversight on NIL

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips expressed support for a possible congressional intervention over the issue of name, image and likeness. Phillip, who was interviewed by the ACC Network, said that he thinks the legislative branch could address the situation.

He believes Congress could provide proper regulations and benchmarks that would govern future NIL deals.

"We need to make sure that we have something that comes out of Washington that connects all 50 of the states because we've had a piecemeal project and it's really undermined college sports," Phillips said.

The ACC chief also called for Congress to provide legal protection over cases stemming from NIL deals student-athletes signed and to adopt a law that would indicate their status and identify their rights and obligations.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark sided with Phillips over his suggestion of congressional oversight over the transactions. He believes a standard platform to govern the deals is important to prevent confusion over varying state interpretations of student-athletes' employment status and the NIL deals they sign.