More than ever, student-athletes are leaving school before graduating to turn pro and SEC commissioner Mike Silve believes the NCAA's rule on agents is a major contributor.
According to the Associated Press, Silve addressed the media at the start of the annual SEC spring meetings in Destin, Fla. He said student-athletes being strictly prohibited from having an agent most often leads to them making ill-advised decisions regarding their professional career.
"[The] NCAA's current rules [regarding agents] are really part of the problem, not part of the solution," Silve told reporters.
Under the NCAA's current rules, student-athletes are not allowed to even enter a verbal agreement with an agent while eligible. This year, the NFL saw a record 102 underclassmen declare for the amateur draft and 39 of them did not get selected within the seven rounds.
Basketball has been on this trend for some time, as the NBA only requires players to spend one year out of high school before being eligible for their amateur draft. Under this rule, many of the top players go into college planning on only spending one season there before declaring for the draft.
"One is it has to be quality advice and it has to be timely advice," Silve said. "We see an increased number of kids leaving early. We've got to find a way to make sure our student-athletes get the best advice they can get that's not advice based on somebody's self-interest, and in a timely way. Early on so they're not pressured to make a decision at the last minute."
The NCAA is currently devising a proposal to give the five "power conferences" more autonomy regarding decisions affecting their schools. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC would potentially be able to give their student-athletes stipends covering more than the cost of attendance. However, Silve has indicated the power conferences only want to adopt these changes on their terms.
"We have not had a discussion at the AD level as to whether or not we want to change our position," Slive said. "I don't know where we're going to come out."
