NCAA Upholds Penalties Against Mizzou, Including Postseason Bans

An NCAA appeals committee upheld a series of penalties against the University of Missouri (Mizzou), including postseason bans, after a tutor was found to be completing coursework for several student-athletes.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions initially penalized Mizzou in January 2019. The tutor was employed by the university from 2010 to 2016 and began to complete student coursework in the summer of 2015. The tutor interpreted a pay raise as school approval of her behavior. She completed assignments, quizzes, exams, and even an entire course …

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One More Time: New Lawsuit Argues NCAA Must Pay Athletes Minimum Wage

Trey Johnson, a former defensive back for Villanova University, has sued the NCAA, arguing that the organization has violated federal labor law and that it must pay student-athletes a minimum wage.

In his lawsuit, Johnson argues that student-athletes clearly constitute employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, he notes that college students in work-study programs are classified as employees, meaning that they are subject to minimum wage laws. Meanwhile, student-athletes, who work longer schedules and create the need for some of these work-study …

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NCAA Adopts New Policies Amid Bribery Scandal

On August 8, 2018, the NCAA announced sweeping policy changes specifically targeting NCAA Men’s Basketball. These policy changes come in the midst of an ongoing bribery scandal. As we have previously covered, the scandal involved two alleged schemes that rocked NCAA Men’s Basketball. The first scheme involved NCAA basketball coaches who solicited and accepted bribes from financial advisers and, in return, promised to persuade players to send business to those financial advisers once the players turned professional. The second scheme involved efforts to secretly …

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Under a Microscope: NCAA Reviewing Academic Standards of Division I Student-Athletes

On October 13, 2016, the NCAA announced that it opened an overarching review on its academic standards for Division I student-athletes. The target of this investigation is to maintain academic quality for these student-athletes, and the committee has already approved a new transfer policy in its effort to accomplish this goal that retroactively applies to the 2012-2013 academic year.

Under the old policy, when a student-athlete would transfer to another school, the transfer sometimes harmed the original school’s academic progress rate, or APR, which is …

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