Tag: ncaa basketball

Rich Paul did not appear on a new list of agents certified by the NCAA. Nor did nor any representatives from Klutch Sports.

Paul, however, was far from alone as many big names were absent. Several other well-known agencies that did not appear on the certified NCAA list included Roc Nation, Priority Sports, CAA, Wasserman, BDA Sports and many other major players in the industry.

“Most agents feel it is a complete farce,” one NBPA agent, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports Media Group on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, told LeBron Wire. “Why would we register with them if we’ve been with the NBPA for so many years? It’s a complete insult.”

“Most underclassmen that big agencies are targeting will be all in and will not care about going back to the NCAA. Those kids don’t straddle the fence. You don’t have to be certified by the NCAA to talk with them.”

LeBron Wire also spoke to two agents who did get the certification, though both were bothered by the legislation and process — which included a full background check as well as a check to the NCAA for insurance and another for the certification.

“I’d rather be compliant than not,” explained one agent, who passed the test and also spoke to USAT SMG on the condition of anonymity. “I thought that it could give me an edge on some of the guys that decide to test the waters that I wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. I thought maybe it’d give me some connection to coaches that I wouldn’t have otherwise. For at least a year, I’d like to see how it worked and how the NCAA enforced it.”

The representative from that firm told LeBron Wire that they did not plan on renewing their certification if they did not feel that others complied with the rule moving forward.

“Ideally, as a unit, the agents could fight this because we don’t want these additional certifications,” a third agent told LeBron Wire. “But if we can’t fight it, we wanted someone to get it so we’d protected. We don’t want this to be necessary. A lot of other agencies didn’t do it in protest.”

LeBron James, Rich Paul, and Klutch Sports have made it clear that they do not like the way the NCAA handles their business and profits off of unpaid athletes.

Although LeBron himself supports Ohio State, he’s never been a fan of the structure of college sports, or amateurism in general, especially after seeing season tickets and cable subscriptions being sold to his high school games.

Over the past few years, as James and Paul have become firmly entrenched in the NBA’s power structure, they launched what could be seen by the NCAA as an attack on their power.

First, LeBron’s production company SpringHill Entertainment produced a scathing documentary called “Student-Athlete” that followed several athletes that had been wronged by oddly-enforced eligibility rules or a lack of injury compensation. James also led the charge in California for their state assembly to vote in a law that would allow amateur athletes to profit off of their name and likeness. 

Then during the last college basketball season, Klutch Sports player Darius Bazley opted to de-commit from Syracuse and opt to train for the 2019 NBA Draft while also having an internship with New Balance that could pay him up to $14 million.

All of this led up to new agent certification rules proposed by the NCAA.

The first draft included a requirement for a college degree that several called “The Rich Paul Rule” — though it was shortly amended to just require a test to be taken at NCAA headquarters. But even that was a non-starter for Paul and several other agencies. 

Although the winds of change for amateurism have been swirling for a while, the NCAA is attempting to control a system they’ve has rarely been challenged like it is today. And with Paul not alone in refusing to comply with what several major agencies evidently see as an outdated model, it will be interesting to see what the future of the NCAA agent certification rules become.

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