ND's Weis directs players to reach verbal agreements with agents??

So Notre Dame's guys can't do this but all those baseball juniors who get drafted can have guys like Scott Boras serve as "advisors" and not lose their eligibility until they sign a pro contract?

Weis has got a point, even if he's not trying to make one.

 

What are you referring to? Hopefully not that dim groupie booster who gave some gifts almost ten years ago.

 

They used to and then they all died in a plane crash.

 

That was exactly my thought AQB. There's also the pull-out NBA draft entry deal. Why not in football? Baseball?

 

Apparently the NCAA found ND's violations to be more than taking gifts from a dopey groupie, according to this story from Notre Dame Magazine. .

"Notre Dame's athletic department emerged from its two-year NCAA probation in December 2001, but a five-year "repeat violator" provision remains in effect until December 2004. During the remaining time any major violation would subject the program to more severe sanctions.

The NCAA put Notre Dame on probation in December 1999 after finding the athletic program guilty of major rules violations for the first time ever.

The violations involved three situations: a woman booster romantically involved with several football players who gave gifts and others items of value to the players' teammates; a player who was found to have offered complimentary tickets to his girlfriend in lieu of paying her back a loan; and a player who was found to have paid a tutor to write a paper for him."

 

A verbal agreement is a legally-binding contract.

 

The basketball rule is sport-specific. And there is no "hardship" rule for baseball. Baseball playersr can be drafted after their senior year of HS, second year of JUCO or third year of four-year college. As long as you don't sign with an agent, you don't lose your eligibility when you're drafted.

 

The NCAA prohibition on agents is patently illegal -- any athlete, as a legal adult, has the perfect right to retain legal counsel for any reason he or she sees fit.

Now as far as retaining agents who are not licensed attorneys, that may be a whole nother deal. But the NCAA has no right to interfere in any way with the right of a legal adult to consult legal counsel for any purpose he sees fit (to get out of a parking ticket, to get out of rape charges, to sue the NCAA for unlawful restraint of commerce, to negotiate a professional contract, whatever).

At some point, and I would guess very soon, an athlete is going to sue the NCAA, and say, "I have the right to engage legal counsel, for any reason I see fit, and there is not one god damn thing you can do about it," and the courts will agree.

That said, the current rule IS the current rule, and it's impossible to conceive a more blatant violation.

Although it should be noted, one of the big selling points for ND to hire Weis was his supposedly-unmatchable network of contacts in the NFL community. Apparently, this network extends also to agents, where Weis is apparently pressuring his players to commit early to agents he finds "acceptable." Of course, there will be no quid pro quo in 2-3 years, when Weis flitters off to the NFL, and will be negotiating directly with the agents. :

As far as Notre Dame's previous "probation" -- how many TV appearances did they miss? How many bowl games??

None. Zero.

Notre Dame has never been, and will never be, put on any significant NCAA probation. They may get a pinky-slapping for formality's sake, maybe docked a scholarship or two (like that should make any difference for them) but they will never get any probation that means anything.

 

Describing those as "major violations" gives new meaning to the word "major."

 

Dunbar, IIRC, was found guilty of embezzling over a million dollars, which she channelled to her sugar studs on the football team for cars, clothes, Vegas trips, etc etc. This wasn't nickel-and-dime shit.

 

What?
That's hardly axiomatic. Interviewing agents and deciding on one IN YOUR OWN MIND is in no way legally binding.