Last spring there was talk of the NCAA Transformation Committee changing scholarship rules for baseball. The idea was that each conference could decide if they want to add additional scholarships for equivalency sports. Does anyone know if this is still in play? We’ve been told baseball recruiting is going to look totally different in 2 years. The transfer portal is part of this but we’ve gotten the impression that those in the know believe scholarship numbers could shift.
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I don't believe scholarship numbers will change until some other things happen. The fact of baseball recruiting changing will be portal increases and NIL money getting real for baseball.
The committee’s recommendations and report are due to the BoD on 1/12/23. I haven’t seen any speculation about scholarship rule changes making the cut, but it seems like they took on a pretty long list of topics.
@PitchingFan posted:I don't believe scholarship numbers will change until some other things happen. The fact of baseball recruiting changing will be portal increases and NIL money getting real for baseball.
Figured this might be a good spot to ask my question about NIL money and how folks think and/or know how it will trickle into college baseball. I have found the football side quite interesting with the collectives basically providing a base salary. Aside from the individual NIL money and perhaps the top tier schools (which I presume will have similar collectives), how do you see NIL money creeping into mid-major baseball? Any actual stories of ho-hum programs getting funds made available to the scholarship players (perhaps even those programs not fully funded)?
I have not heard of any big money for baseball except that school in Louisiana that is in Baton Rouge that says Geaux Tigers (can't name names 
) this year. They got almost $10 million rumor is. I don't think it will come down to baseball except in small amounts. My son has several small deals for clothing, advertisements, signings, and appearances. Nothing life changing or paying for tuition. Puts a little money in the pocket for dates.
@PitchingFan posted:I have not heard of any big money for baseball except that school in Louisiana that is in Baton Rouge that says Geaux Tigers (can't name names
I know of some schools that are "guaranteeing" NIL money as part of their pitch to 23's - 26's. They are ranging from $5-10k a year.
@PitchingFan posted:I have not heard of any big money for baseball except that school in Louisiana that is in Baton Rouge that says Geaux Tigers (can't name names
I actually know one of the guys that is organizing the "Grove Collective" at Ole Miss. He told me a month ago that they have a little over $12M in their NIL collective and that $300,000 is earmarked for baseball.
Of course what was suppose to be Name, Image, and Likeness has ended up being straight pay for play. I don't know how Ole Miss is using their baseball NIL, but apparently they have a good chunk of money that they expect to use going forward.
@Northeastmom posted:Last spring there was talk of the NCAA Transformation Committee changing scholarship rules for baseball. The idea was that each conference could decide if they want to add additional scholarships for equivalency sports. Does anyone know if this is still in play? We’ve been told baseball recruiting is going to look totally different in 2 years. The transfer portal is part of this but we’ve gotten the impression that those in the know believe scholarship numbers could shift.
Something to maybe keep in mind when it comes to the potential of the NCAA adjusting the scholarship limitations for equivalency sports, is that just because the NCAA allows 25 scholarships for baseball, that doesn't necessarily mean that the schools can afford to fund 25 scholarships for baseball. College baseball is not a revenue producing sport in all but a small few Universities. If the NCAA moves the scholarship limitation from 11.7 to 25, that doesn't mean that the school is going to fund those scholarships. The athletic awards are real money, and in order for the Athletic department/baseball program to give additional scholarship, then they have to have the funding to support them. Also, there may be some Title IX issues that come into play. Funding additional scholarships for baseball, may also mean that the athletic department of those schools have to also fund some female equivalency sports as well.
So, some of the big Power 5 programs that are getting major football television revenue may be easily capable of fully funding 25 scholarships (SEC, Big10 maybe), but there is a very strong likelihood that Mid-major programs may stay at 11.7 scholarships even if the NCAA allows for them to go beyond that in the future.
It has been mentioned on here numerous times that a good portion of the D1 baseball programs are probably not fully funding the 11.7 cap. An increase in the cap to 25, as you point out, will not lead to increases at these schools.
Anyone know if there are D1 football programs that do not fully fund? Is this necessary for some schools in several sports?
Arkansas has a few collectives and one is funded by the Hunt family of JB Hunt fame. Big money is being thrown at basketball and baseball. Arkansas has 13 top 100 commits in 2023 which is a record. That’s because of NIL.
@2017 Lefty Dad posted:It has been mentioned on here numerous times that a good portion of the D1 baseball programs are probably not fully funding the 11.7 cap. An increase in the cap to 25, as you point out, will not lead to increases at these schools.
Anyone know if there are D1 football programs that do not fully fund? Is this necessary for some schools in several sports?
Son's college is a FBS football program, and my understanding is the conference does not have scholarships (Not Ivy).
I just did a word search for "scholarships" in the Final Report from the Transformation Committee. The word only appears two times and didn't address an increase in scholarships from current levels. It just recommended that appropriate NCAA governing bodies and committees review sport sponsorship requirements that a university must satisfy to be a member of Division I.
Specifically, that a university should not be allowed to count a sport toward the minimum D1 requirements "...unless it demonstrates a certain level of financial commitment to student-athlete scholarships in that sport."
I'll bet that resulted in some discussions at Ivy League schools!
