Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 4 | March 2018

“The NCAA Convention was an amazing experience,” Tolbert said. “Honestly, I was a little nervous because I knew there were going to be ADs [athletics directors], and Board of Directors and a lot of higher- ups in the NCAA doing a lot of really important work, and I didn’t know how I would fit into that equation, but everyone was so welcoming. “They had a great schedule planned for us. I went to a lot of different forums, and we talked about a lot of different issues going on right now at the NCAA level. We’re really trying to pinpoint what Division I SAAC wants to work on and our goals for at least the rest of my term.” The convention ended with several rule changes and modifications taking place, including—perhaps most notably—the granting of additional health insurance benefits to student-athletes for at least two years after a student-athlete leaves his/her institution. A student- athlete’s significant other also receives this benefit. The Division I Council also changed the college basketball schedule, allowing teams to start three days earlier. In response, the autonomy conferences—those in the Power 5 conferences—passed a proposal calling for a three-day holiday break for basketball players. This goes into effect for the 2018-19 season. But the topic that dominated conversation was the NCAA’s existing transfer rules. Currently, student-athletes in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and ice hockey must sit out a year after transferring to another Division I school before becoming eligible to play. That’s not the case in the other sports, as student-athletes receive the opportunity to transfer and play immediately. The Division I Council plans to make its transferring proposals in April and potentially take a final vote this summer. “We [Division I SAAC] felt it was a little bit restrictive,” Tolbert said of the current transfer rule. “Our main question is how can we make the student-athlete’s life a little more similar to a regular student’s life? Regular students can transfer whenever they want, and having that option is really important to us. “As a committee, we’ve stood on trying to make the transfer environment a little less restrictive and giving a little more leeway to the student-athlete who wants to transfer for good reasons.” The NCAA seeks uniformity in the rule, and it wants to be fair to the schools, the coaches, and the student-athletes. The question is how, given the competing interests? Most student-athletes want the ability to be able to transfer to any school of their choosing and be eligible to play right away. The coaches fear that allowing them to do so creates “free agency” in which mass quantities of student-athletes leave every year, thus hindering the coaches’ ability to develop programs. The Big 12 recently put out a proposal that allows student-athletes to transfer to any school of their choice, but all student-athletes in all sports must sit out a year. The exceptions would be for walk-ons, for those who graduated at the original institution, for those whose original school went on probation that limited postseason competition in the student-athlete’s sport, and for those whose head coach at the original institution resigned or was fired, though the student-athlete could not transfer to the head coach’s future institution. This proposal certainly gives a lot of latitude to student-athletes, but requiring those who aren’t among the exceptions to sit out a year after transferring may be a deal breaker. The Division I SAAC appears to be leaning toward a different model. “Personally, I’m leaning toward a model that is maybe sitting out a year, but having a one-time exception rule [for instant eligibility] if you meet certain academic benchmarks,” Tolbert said. “Those are things in the works, things that we’re hoping will come on paper soon, but that’s what I’m leaning toward and what our committee is leaning toward.” Other topics discussed by Division I SAAC included early recruiting and student-athlete engagement—getting student-athletes more engaged with SAAC, starting with education at the campus level of what SAAC is and knowing that there are opportunities to have one’s voice heard. The topic of early recruiting isn’t quite as polarizing as that of the transfer situation, but student-athletes want to see it addressed, as college coaches continually recruit younger and younger prospects in an attempt to gain an edge. “We, as a unit, are hoping early recruiting will be—I don’t want to say stopped, but give prospective student-athletes time and resources to make educated decisions,” Tolbert said. “In that, pushing unofficial and official visit dates back a little more and leveling the playing field for everyone. Giving people a chance to make an informed decision. Giving them a chance to know the coach and know the campus before having to feel pressure to make that commitment and sign that letter of intent.” Tolbert said Division I SAAC plans to make mental health awareness a future point of emphasis. The convention occurred right around the time when Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski committed suicide, which, of course, put a spotlight on an issue that continues to gain more notice. Most of that discussion figures to center on the resources provided by the schools. Virginia Tech is out in front, with two sport inside.hokiesports.com 43 IHS extra Continued on page 44 J aila Tolbert (fourth from right) and the Division I SAAC group served as the student-athlete “voice” at the NCAA Convention in January.