NCAA Caves In And Drops ‘Rich Paul Rule’ After Pressure

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has reversed its controversial decision to require agents to have a college degree in order to represent college basketball players. The decision was reversed amid significant blowback from agents and professional basketball players.

NCAA issued the memo in early August, setting down new certification requirements necessary to be an authorised agent. Some of the new stipulations included possessing a bachelor’s degree, professional liability insurance, and a NBPA certification for at least three consecutive years. The agents are also required to report to the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis for an in-person exam in November.

The new guidelines drew widespread disapproval from most basketball camps, as it would render some current NBA agents without degrees unable to do their jobs. LeBron James was one of the biggest names that led the opposition charge labelling the divisive decision as the ‘Rich Paul Rule’ after long-time agent Rich Paul.

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Rich Paul who represents some of the biggest names in basketball including LeBron James, Draymond Green, Ben Simmons, and Anthony Davis published an op-ed piece on 12 August slamming the NCAA’s discriminatory ruling.

The 37-year-old Paul started working with James fresh out of high school and didn’t attend college. He now represents a slate of some of the most prominent NBA players in the league.

Paul is the founder of the Klutch Sports Group which is now under the United Talent Agency umbrella. He argued that the NCAA’s decision would bring nothing but bad consequences and will set a precedent for people of color and those coming from less than privileged backgrounds to be afforded less access to opportunities when it comes to working with the NBA.

Paul further said that young agents deprived of the proper resources should not be barred from their dreams of becoming player agents just because of the lack of a four-year degree. James shared Paul’s words on Twitter in solidarity. 

The NCAA decided to rescind its new guidelines just six hours after Paul’s op-ed was first published, a clear triumph for the James camp. 

The NCAA explained that the new policy was set to be implemented to safeguard young and impressionable student-athletes from unqualified agents that may not represent their best interests.

The NCAA has officially amended its certification requirements for agents, no longer demanding a bachelor’s degree. However, agents are still expected to have a good standing with the National Basketball Players Association in order to be authorized.