NCAA 5-8 rule could soon be gone

[NT80]

NCAA board will vote on future of rule that restricts scholarships

11:26 PM CDT on Thursday, April 22, 2004

By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News

Division I basketball coaches clobbered the NCAA when the 5-8 scholarship rule went into effect in 2000. Despite any positive intentions, the rule's limitations handcuffed coaches, leaving them unable to build a team with the maximum 13 scholarship players.

"I'll tell you what you can write about that rule," Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said Thursday. "It's the most ill-conceived rule in the history of ill-conceived rules."

Texas coach Rick Barnes said: "It's the worst rule they put in during my lifetime."

All the bellyaching proved fruitful. The NCAA Division I board of directors could vote next Thursday to rescind the 5-8 rule, effective immediately. The rule allows schools to sign no more than five players in one year and no more than eight players in a two-year span.

UT, Texas A&M and Texas Tech are among the dozens of Division I schools expected to benefit by signing more players before next season and bringing their number of scholarship players back to 13.

It's not a slam dunk the rule will get rescinded, although NCAA president Myles Brand supports getting rid of it. New Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie said the feeling among coaches was that they need to be cautious and not automatically assume the measure would be passed.

"You have to cover your bases," Gillispie said. "Nobody's ever faced a possible rule change like this at this time that I know of."

The Division I Management Council voted unanimously to rescind the rule, confirming a lower NCAA panel's recommendation. The NCAA works much like the federal government, except its president can't exercise veto power.

"When you have a bad rule, you have to get it out," Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said. "It's not about who was right and saving face. It was getting to the point where some coaches are losing their jobs."

Coaches would have to act quickly; the spring signing period ends May 19. One Big 12 coach, however, said there were few impact players remaining to sign for next season.

Every school's scholarship situation is different. UT and Tech both would have one scholarship remaining if the rule is rescinded. Oklahoma State would have two. As of today, Gillispie said A&M would have two scholarships. Every team's roster can fluctuate for various reasons, though.

"If the rule gets rescinded, the coaching staff is fully aware that they have one more scholarship to play with, assuming no one transfers," Texas Tech compliance director Pat Britz said. The Red Raiders have not had their full complement of 13 scholarship players since Knight arrived in Lubbock in 2001.

The rule was initially designed to encourage player retention in hopes that graduation rates would improve. Men's basketball teams annually have some of the lowest graduation rates of any NCAA sport.

There were few loopholes, if any.

Players transferred in good academic standing, and coaches were unable to sign a replacement player. If an athlete left school early for the NBA, coaches could not replace that player, either, unless they were under their 5-8 limit. Coaches could not initially replace scholarship players who died, although those cases were rare.

"It was to preclude coaches from running off players," said Reggie Minton, associate director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Brand believes the 5-8 rule can go, because it will soon become obsolete. New academic legislation – the so-called "incentives/disincentives" program – is expected to be approved by the board of directors, too. These new rules are tougher on schools that do not maintain as-yet-undetermined academic standards.

"Talking about holding teams accountable to graduating players, that's something that Coach Knight talked about 25 years ago," Barnes said.

Brand said the NCAA is collecting data on what the standard should be, but a ban on postseason play is already one penalty being discussed.

"The 5-8 rule is a rather blunt instrument, one that has considerable consequences that were unintended," Brand said. "Now we've moved on, and I think we have a much better instrument and can do the job in a better way."

Oklahoma compliance director Curtis Jones expressed concern that coaches may not be fully aware how tough the "incentives/disincentives" program really is. Teams could still lose scholarships or be unable to play for championships if they don't have success in the classroom.

"If you continue disregarding what kind of kids you're bringing in," Jones said, "the striking down of the 5-8 rule is nothing more than a stay of execution."