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In what could well have far more impact on baseball than football, Vanderbilt’s QB, who started at a JC, has filed a major Antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA with a request the NCAA be enjoined (precluded) from enforcing current NCAA rules for Juco transfers.

Included in the relief being sought is overturning NCAA rules that 2 years of JUCO play counts against a player’s 4 years of NCAA eligibility. Another issue is the NCAA determining  that being on a JUCO roster without playing counts as a year of eligibility (apparently there are non-JUCO post HS routes where the NCAA treats the eligibility in a different manner.)

And, of course there are NIL issues raised against the NCAA apparently on a theory that by giving a JUCO player only 2 years of eligibility, the NCAA is taking away 2 years of NIL income from a JUCO transfer.

While I am no expert, this lawsuit seems fascinating. At its core it seems clear JUCO and the NCAA are completely different bodies. How can the NCAA without collusion or antitrust implications limit NCAA eligibility based on playing under JUCO  governance which is completely separate from the NCAA.
If an injunction issues against the NCAA, the implications for baseball seem enormous!

'You don't have to be a great player to play in the major leagues, you've got to be a good one every day.'

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Great, so now college sports will have players that have been in college for 6 years.  This nonsense has to stop.  The object of college is to get a degree, not play sports for 6+ years.

I understand there are always exceptions, but I sure hope this fails.

if this goes through, then let’s implement some changes to hs.  Kids can stay for an additional 2 years so that they can compete better with kids in college.  See how ridiculous this sounds….

One of the things I find frustrating is that as a juco player you have to strategically take courses that will transfer in order to be eligible. There are some really great, skilled associates degrees out there, but if you choose to pursue one of those skilled degree programs while at a juco, more often than not those courses won't transfer. If a kid decides to quit college after 2 years, I would think it would have been better to come away with a specialized "job ready" associates degree as compared to a transfer program associates degree that's just a bunch of gen eds. We already know the investment in a college education is turning out to not be worth the expense for those that attend certain schools or for those who obtained degrees that aren't pertinent to the job market. I personally think it's ridiculous that 4-year degree programs have so much general education requirements. Some of the courses they require are at the same level of what we require HS students to complete. That's why it's now more common to see duel-enrollment options available at high schools. It's also frustrating that a HS won't give HS credit for a non-duel enrollment course taken at a college. There are numerous colleges out there now that let HS students enroll and take classes for college credit, yet the high schools won't even count it as a HS elective credit.

The original intent of college was mostly to come out a well rounded man. It’s why there were so many courses across the board that didn’t apply to obtaining a job. A well rounded college education was a liberal arts degree with study in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and the arts.

A student essentially came out of college more mature than an eighteen year old with reasoning and critical thinking skills. Companies looked for intelligent, educated graduates and trained them. My father graduated from college in 1950 because he graduated from high school at the start of WWII. He used his degree in English Literature to get a job selling for a major oil company. Despite being twenty-six at graduation my father was an arrested adolescent frat boy. I know this because he still was one as a grown adult.

When I graduated in the Seventies the computer industry was burgeoning. I was asked two “make the cut” questions. “Is your degree math related?” and “Is your GPA at least 3.2?” I had a degree in Economics with a concentration in Quantitative Analysis. I was hired by Big Blue to sell computer systems. The first six months was almost all training.

Now a lot less corporations are doing extensive training. They want people producing immediately. If a job requires extensive skills chances are the person has to acquire them in their first job.

Internships during college is one way to gain experience before graduation. Some coaches don’t like their players passing on summer ball. My son’s coach wasn’t pleased he asked to be hooked up with a northern New Jersey team in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League so he could do a NYC internship. The coach told him the ACBL was beneath him. Post season surgery ended the debate. My son was hired by the corporation providing the internship after graduation.

In fact, why have years of eligibility at all? People should be able to play "college" sports for as many years as they are students. If it takes you 10 years to earn a degree (or several degrees), why not?  Especially since now it can pay quite well. That's the logical conclusion to this.

I am no fan of what is evolving at the D1 level especially in the Power 4. Unfortunately, I thin Coach Bennett was and will be prophetic when he stated in his recent resignation, D1 college sports are changing. They are becoming professionals. One noticeable aspect to me is no college President is outwardly resisting or even questioning the money grab. In fact, most seem supportive and are chasing more. When did we last see matriculation information posted and emphasized? Attendance numbers in the SEC and Big10 are much more prominent than grades and matriculation with, perhaps, the isolated exception of the Campbell award for the best scholar athlete. Even that gets little to no recognition by Universities and their Presidents.

@PABaseball posted:

I know it will never happen but in theory - couldn't they just no longer accept transfer credits at that point?

Would be interesting to see how many kids are graduating in 4 years since the start of the pandemic. Very anecdotal but it seems that most of the kids my son played with that were part of the 2020 class are still in school of they went D1, and the ones that went D3 finished their 4 year. Of the handful of kids that went JUCO that I know, they haven't, and about half are just no longer in college.

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