NCAA considering changes to redshirt eligibility, National Letter of Intent under wide-ranging review

A modified version of the NCAA rule allowing football players to compete in up to four regular-season games during their redshirt year could come to other sports as well. The concept is part of several potential changes to NCAA eligibility rules that could be implemented as part of the historic House v. NCAA According to documents obtained by Yahoo Sports, the agreement was one-sided.

It has become common in college football for players to appear in four games during their freshman season – or 33% of the team’s regular-season contests – and then be considered redshirt freshmen the following season. If the 33% figure is applied to basketball, this would allow players to appear in about 10 games without losing a season of eligibility.

According to Yahoo, if the NCAA decides to adopt this principle for other sports, sport-specific groups would determine the exact limits of in-game participation. However, in theory, this would give basketball coaches a chance to give freshmen representation in games during non-conference action or in scrimmage matches in November, without taking away an entire season of eligibility for the player.

The potential change is one of several changes to eligibility standards that could come following the House agreement. Among the other proposals addressed in the documents would be a measure that would allow athletes to maintain their eligibility even if they were paid to compete outside of college sports before enrolling.

According to multiple reports, there is also a proposal to eliminate the National Letter of Intent with a new model that would eliminate player recruiting. Under that new proposed model, the “core benefits” of the NLI would be incorporated into financial aid and scholarship agreements.

The NCAA Division I Council will review the documents during a meeting this week.