The Big 10 raised a lot of eyebrows when it was reported that the conference was kicking around the idea of putting in a rule that would make all freshmen student-athletes ineligible for competition so that they could adjust to college life.
It sounds like the negative feedback to the proposed rule has halted any further discussions on the topic, as Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany has tabled talks on the subject.
Discussion among Big Ten administrators on freshman ineligibility appears near an end.
Three months after the league created waves with its reintroduction of debate over a practice eliminated more than 40 years ago, commissioner Jim Delany is backing away from serious talk about his “A Year of Readiness” document.
“That is not a proposal,” Delany said Wednesday. “It may never be a proposal. But is a great pivot point to have this discussion.”
Delany mapped his plan with a 12-page paper issued in April. Freshman ineligibility gained little supportoutside the Big Ten. Inside the league, reviews were mixed, though administrators lauded the effort to spark a discussion on academic topics and time demands placed on student-athletes.
“There are those who are supportive of it,” Delany said. “There are those who oppose it, but that’s not the issue. The issue is whether or not we can have a broad set of national discussions.”
Delany said the Big Ten has called for feedback on reform issues from organizations and individuals nationally.
“The most important thing is there be a discussion about how prepared the student is,” Delany said, “how the school accommodates that preparedness and how it all works.
“There’s no simple answer. There’s no one answer. This is not an answer standing by itself. And it’s not ready. It’s not mature enough to be a proposal. If it were, it would be a proposal. Instead, it’s an effort to encourage a discussion about the importance of education. And it’s happening, so for that, we’re happy.”
Freshman ineligibility, reversed in 1971, appeared unlikely from the start to gain widespread support.
I don’t think this was a very popular proposal from the get go, and I think Delany’s decision to squash any talks about it is an obvious sign of that.
If this proposal had wide spread support, I imagine that the talks would continue to go on until they were able to implement it. I am pretty happy that the rule gained no traction, because I think the idea of forcing freshmen to sit out a year in an effort to further “prepare” them for college is ridiculous.
Every year we see freshmen athletes getting significant playing time across college sports and it is often a big selling point in recruiting, so I’m not sure exactly what else the Big 10 feels like athletes need to be prepared for.
