The historic House vs. NCAA settlement deal could change the face of college sports after mandating that student-athletes be part of a revenue-sharing agreement with the programs they represent. The matter is expected to be settled this week by California judge Claudia Wilken and would go into effect on July 1.
Included in the settlement is a proposed salary cap and agreement by schools to share up to $20.5 million in revenue annually with their players, which has opened a can of worms in terms of enforceability.
During Tuesday's segment of the "CBS College Basketball" show, analyst Gary Parrish pointed out the flaws in the salary cap mandate of the House vs. NCAA settlement (30:35).
"Do you really think some SEC program is going to be in a recruiting war with Villanova and going to have to sit there and deal with this possible fact? Villanova can legally offer you X amount of dollars and we can only legally offer you a fraction of that, in part because we have big-time football and they don't," Parrish said. "So now we just have to lose this five-star, program-changing prospect to Villanova?
"Do you really think an SEC program is going to let that happen? They're going to do the same thing they've always done. Do what they have to do to get the player on campus. That's where we're headed. Listen, lawsuits and cheating. It'll be lawsuits that change the rules again if they win. And if the lawsuits fail, then we're just back to cheating. You cannot cap the SEC."
Power Four conferences combat House vs. NCAA rules
According to a Yahoo Sports report, the Power Four conferences, including the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC, have come up with an ironclad draft that they would require all their member schools to sign, mandating how the new House vs. NCAA settlement rules would be executed.
“You have to sign it (the draft),” one athletic director told Yahoo Sports, “or we don’t play you.”
“As a condition of membership, you must comply with the settlement and enforcement,” a power conference president told Yahoo Sports.
College sports have entered a murky area legally with the House vs. NCAA settlement deal, and the formation of the College Sports Commission to oversee its enforcement is the Power Four's response to try and regulate the new rules.
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