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61 Santa Clara L. Rev. 1 (2020-2021)

handle is hein.journals/saclr61 and id is 1 raw text is: THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF INTERCOLLEGIATE
ATHLETICS-THE NEED TO REVISIT THE NCAA'S
NO AGENT RULE
John P. Sahl*
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the primary
governing body for intercollegiate athletics, promulgated its No Agent
Rule in 1974 prohibiting advisors of student-athletes from communi-
cating and negotiating with professional sports teams. As part of a core
principle of amateurism, the NCAA adopted this rule, in part, to deline-
ate between professional athletes and student athletes. However,
through economic and societal evolution, this policy is antiquated and
detrimental to the personal and professional development of college ath-
letes.
This Article argues in favor of expanding the recent Rice Commis-
sion's recommendation, adopted by the NCAA, to grant an exception
from the No Agent Rule for Men's Division I elite basketball players to
all college sports and levels of competition. The NCAA's landscape for
governing college athletics has undergone many recent changes, some
of which strengthen the notion that all student-athletes would benefit
from earlier access to agent advice and assistance. The Changing Land-
scape ofIntercollegiate Athletics-The Need to Revisit the NCAA 's No
Agent Rule  discusses this need by first detailing the evolution of NCAA
governance, followed by an analysis of the Gatto decision and its impact
on the Rice Commission's report promoting an exception to the No Agent
Rule for Division I Men's elite basketball players.
Finally, this article recommends that because of the changed and
ever-evolving landscape of college sports, the NCAA should abandon its
No Agent Rule in favor of a Modified Agent Rule (MAR). The MAR
* The author wishes to thank Professors Joann M. Sahl and Matthew Juravich, and the
University of Akron Athletic Director, Lawrence R. Williams, for their helpful insights and
comments and Associate Law Librarian Susan M. Altmeyer, and my research assistants, Lind-
say Casile, Bridget Brenner, and David Belfiglio for their valuable research, editorial assis-
tance, and generous support.

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