10 Outrageous Rules The NCAA Has Imposed On 

College Athletes 
 
1. You’ve got mail.

The NCAA has such a strong grasp on recruiting that they even regulate the size of
envelopes sent to players. According to the NCAA rules, recruiting materials
cannot be sent on an envelope bigger than 9” x 12” (NCAA Recruiting Rules).
This may not seem as if it is a big deal considering a school shouldn’t need any
more than this to state why someone should attend. Hence, everyone should be
glad that West Virginia got punished for showing off and sending their basketball
recruits 10” x 13” envelopes (Casazza 2017).
 2. No sympathy.

A lot of college athletes had incredibly poor childhoods. Considering they cannot
earn any money while playing in college, they are still poor. This is how coaches
are tested, as they have to make tough decisions regarding the program and their
players.

While Jim Valvano was the coach at NC State in the ‘80s, one of his players was a
less fortunate boy from the south. After the death of this player’s grandmother, he
was desperate to attend the funeral. Coach Valvano paid for his plane ticket, only
for the player to return to an NCAA punishment (​Wojciechowski 1993)​.
 3. The NCAA earns $1 billion from March Madness, while players do not
earn a dime.

The NCAA basketball tournament earns the so-called “non-profit” corporation

almost $1 billion dollars. Just the television deal with CBS is worth around $800
million for a year. Add that to tickets and merchandise, and you will have a figure
that surpasses $1 billion (Cameron 2019). While people argue for the amateur
status of the sport, it is hard to stand by a rule like this when players in the Final
Four, like Shabazz Napier did in 2014, saying there were times they didn’t have
enough money to buy food.

4. No more than four years in high school.

A lot of the young men and women who go onto play college sports are those who
have struggled most of their lives. However, the NCAA does not allow someone to
overcome issues that occurred in the past. Countless athletes have struggled in
school as a result of issues at home. Therefore, their athletic abilities have gone to
waste as they have missed out on potentially great careers.

5. Athletes cannot eat too much.

One would imagine that college athletes would be allowed to eat a lot. After all,
young men and women need tons of calories in order to get through all of the
training and games they have to face throughout the season. However, the NCAA
disagrees. Apparently, there is a limit to how much food a college athlete can
receive from the University (Compliance).

It was recently that several self-reported violations by the University of Oklahoma

went viral online​. One of them showed that three athletes received “food in excess
of NCAA regulation at a graduation banquet.” That means they ate too much pasta
and the school had to report it (Trotter 2014).
6. International complications.

While in the United States there is competitive high school and college basketball,
other countries work differently. Like it happens in all other sports across the globe,
international basketball is run by clubs. What that means is that these kids do not play
for their schools as much as they play for clubs that pay them money to represent
them in tournaments. That being said, it is not surprising to see players in their
mid-teens playing professionally and receiving salaries, as was the case with Enes
Kanter. While playing in Turkey before college, Enes had a $33,000 salary, which he
eventually gave up to go to the United States and play college basketball at Kentucky
(Associated Press 2011). But since players cannot be paid, Kanter was deemed
permanently ineligible and could not play for Kentucky.

7. Can’t sell an old textbook if an athlete’s name is written on it.

College athletes are prohibited from making a profit on autographs and anything
associated with their name or likeness. An old textbook labeled with an athlete’s
name would count as a signature and violate NCAA protocol if it were to be sold. The
NCAA rules were written to help protect athletes. Them? No, the athletes…
definitely the athletes.

8. No jobs that earn over $2,000 a year.

One would think that college athletes would be able to get a job to pay for necessities,
have spare cash, or to give to their families. Their school is paid for, but the rest of
their life still needs to be financed. Other students can get jobs while they’re at
school. Why can’t athletes?

9. Athletes are unable to accept a hamburger paid for by their millionaire coach.
Accepting any form of gift or payment violates NCAA regulations. No matter the
value or size, any form of payment is deemed against the rules (Compliance).
Something as small as a hamburger could get a player ruled ineligible and unable to
play college sports ever again. Sure the coach makes buckets of money, but feeding a
player crosses the line.

10. Can’t use prescribed ADHD medicine to study.

Prescribed ADHD medicine is a banned substance as ruled by the NCAA

(Compliance). The NCAA tells players that they are in college for their education, but
only if it doesn’t interfere with sports. Countless college athletes have missed long
periods of time because of their condition they have no control over.
 Works Cited

Cameron, Steve. “The NCAA Brings in $1 Billion a Year - Here's Why It Refuses to Pay Its

College Athletes.” ​Business Insider​, Business Insider, 26 Mar. 2019,

https://www.businessinsider.com/ncaa-college-athletes-march-madness-basketball-football-sports-n

ot-paid-2019-3​.

Casazza, Mike. “WVU ATHLETICS: Secondary Violations Extremely Common with Thorough

NCAA Rules.” ​Mail,​ 27 Oct. 2017,

https://www.wvgazettemail.com/sports/wvu-athletics-secondary-violations-extremely-common-wit

h-thorough-ncaa-rules/article_92e02d63-734b-5d22-87e4-543b52dd4bb6.html​.

“Compliance.” ​NCAA.org - The Official Site of the NCAA,​ ​http://www.ncaa.org/compliance​.

“NCAA Recruiting Rules: When Can College Coaches Contact High School Athletes.” ​Recruiting

Rules | When Can College Coaches Contact Athletes,​

https://www.ncsasports.org/ncaa-eligibility-center/recruiting-rules​.

Press, Associated. “Enes Kanter Ruled Permanently Ineligible.” ​ESPN,​ ESPN Internet Ventures, 7

Jan. 2011, ​https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=6000134​.

Trotter, Jake. “Sooners Self-Report Excessive Pasta.” ​ESPN,​ ESPN Internet Ventures, 19 Feb.

2014,

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/10484741/oklahoma-sooners-penalized-three-stud

ent-athletes-eating-too-much-pasta​.

Wojciechowski, Gene. “Valvano Dies After Cancer Fight : College Basketball: Former North

Carolina State Coach Battled Illness for Last Year. He Was 47.” ​Los Angeles Times,​ Los Angeles

Times, 29 Apr. 1993, ​https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-29-sp-29011-story.html​.