The NCAA’s so-called Rich Paul Rule saga isn’t done creating drama yet.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA agents have signed a letter to the NCAA refusing to comply with the NCAA’s proposed agent certification process.
Agents are certified by union and some states, but are pushing back on NCAA's insistence it should hold regulatory/investigative power on agents. "There's no rational connection between certification process," and NCAA's stated purpose of protecting men's basketball players. https://t.co/7A9GdreuyC
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 14, 2019
NBPA has been talking with the NCAA on finding common ground on behalf of the agents, sources said. In letter, agents are willing to take bi-annual online seminar on protecting players amateurism. Entire discussion has been centered on players "testing the waters" of NBA Draft.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 14, 2019
“....men’s basketball student-athletes in deciding whether to remain in school or to enter the NBA draft.” https://t.co/p2NufXF716
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 14, 2019
Among the rules in the proposal was a requirement that agents hold college degrees — which seemed to directly target LeBron James’ agent Rich Paul. The NCAA quickly backtracked after plenty of negative reaction to the proposal, but it appears agents aren’t done fighting back just yet.
The new process would severely hinder both agents and potential NBA players as the NCAA threatens to rule ineligible any athletes who use a non-NCAA certified agent while exploring professional opportunities.
This story will be updated.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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