NewsLocal News

Actions

NCAA allowing student athletes to participate in paid endorsements

Posted at 10:42 PM, Oct 29, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-29 22:42:28-04

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Eric Murphy knows college basketball.
"Seeing them achieve their dreams. That's why I do it," said Murphy.
He's been coaching it at Florida SouthWestern State College for more than 10 years.
"The most important thing is the chemistry between the players, players, coaches, everybody's got to be on the same page," said Murphy.
But as of Tuesday, the sport he knows so well, is facing a pretty big change.
It was announced that the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, is now allowing college athletes to make money off of their name, image and likeness.
"So, we voted today to encourage our members to begin the process of considering are they gonna modernize the rules of each of the divisions - one, two and three," said Michael Drake, the NCAA Chair of the Board of Governors.
It's a move that the group has previously shut down.
"It was a big step for us. We're a slow moving organization so I'm really proud that our leadership embraced our recommendations," said Eugene Smith, Director of Athletics for the Ohio State University.
Coach Murphy says he can get behind the idea.
"You know, if you're getting used for your name and your likeness, I could go for getting paid for that," said Murphy.
But exactly how this rule change will be rolled out remains to be seen.
The NCAA has given all three of its divisions until January of 2021 to create some guidelines that colleges and universities like FSW can follow.
Which leaves coaches, like Murphy, waiting to see what their next moves should be.
"Whenever it is time for my sophomores to pick a school, maybe we may have that conversation, but it's still new, I don't know when it's going to go into effect within the NCAA," said Murphy.