NCAA considers changes in amateurism rules

An NCAA subcommittee is drafting an amendment that would allow student-athletes to obtain loans based on potential earnings as a professional athlete.

The NCAA's Academics/Eligibility/Compliance Cabinet Subcommittee, which is recommending widespread reform of the organization's rules regarding amateurism, also has proposed allowing parties not affiliated with a college to pay for the high school or prep school educational expenses for prospective student-athletes.

Another NCAA subcommittee has recommended that prospective student-athletes be permitted to receive ''normal and reasonable living expenses from an individual with whom'' he or she has an established relationship. The new recommendations are contained in an Outline of Proposed Amateurism Deregulation Proposals written by subcommittee members.

Previously, the AECC subcommittee proposed allowing professional athletes to retain collegiate athletic eligibility.

Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, was guarded in his response regarding the possibility of giving loans to players, primarily in football and men's basketball. However, Haney gave a strong endorsement to the other two proposals, which were formulated after seven high-profile men's basketball players were temporarily suspended for violating current rules governing those topics.

''On the surface, it appears to address an issue that is very important,'' said Haney, whose group lists amateurism as a major topic of concern.

However, George Washington Athletic Director Jack Kvancz, a member of the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee, was skeptical of the two pre-enrollment proposals, saying that he thought they would heighten the potential for rules violations.

The new proposals will be forwarded to the NCAA Division I Management Council in July. The earliest they could be enacted is April 2001.

Meanwhile, Christine Grant, chairman of the NCAA's subcommittee studying amateurism, said her group hopes to meet with banking executives during the next two months to draft legislation that would permit student-athletes to obtain loans based on potential earnings.