NCAA Division I football and basketball teams don’t often recruit Westport and Weston teenagers.
Lacrosse, soccer, golf, tennis, track, rowing — that’s a different story.
But whatever their sport, many local athletes may feel ripple effects from recent changes on the college sports scene.
“Revenue sharing” began on July 1. D-I schools can now pay players directly, up to a minimum of $20.5 million per college this year. Realistically, nearly all will go to football and men’s basketball athletes.
The change — the result of long years of litigation — also eliminates scholarship limits in Division I sports.
The Ivy League and Patriot League (Boston University, Colgate, Lafayette, Lehigh and others) have opted out. Those conferences have attracted many area student-athletes.
Yet the Ivies do not offer athletic scholarships, and the money offered by Patriot League schools is far less than the Power 4 (Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12). That’s where the first changes will be felt.
Then, they’ll cascade throughout college sports.
Richard Kent has been watching the soon-to-be seismic shift closely.
A Westport resident since 1992 whose day job is in litigation (specializing in fathers rights), his passion is college sports — particularly basketball.
As a side gig, he teaches sports law at Fairfield University, Manhattanville College and Rutgers University.
Richard Kent
Kent says that many of the sports that Westport teenagers play — lacrosse, soccer, tennis, golf, track, crew — could be eliminated by D-I schools.
They have finite resources. The millions of dollars they can now pay athletes — in fact, “must” pay them, to remain competitive — will come from other budget lines.
Non-revenue (or worse, money-losing) sports like those that many Westport youths enjoy (or endure, with the hopes of landing a college scholarship — or at least a foot in the admissions door) may soon be eliminated.
Roster caps are also part of the settlement. D-I colleges are now limited to squads of 15 for basketball, and 105 for football. There are limits in other sports too — 48 for men’s lacrosse and 38 for women’s lax, for example.
Though schools faced scholarship caps previously, there were no roster restrictions. The result was that sports could help an applicant get into a school (even if he or she did not have a scholarship). There were opportunities too to “walk on” without being recruited.
At the D-I level, roster caps will lessen the opportunities for applicants from towns like Westport to use sports as a springboard to college.
As a result, the Ivy and Patriot Leagues — which opted out of the settlement, and will not face roster caps — may see increased interest in their programs.
Opportunities for a Staples football player like Jake Thaw to walk on at a school like Michigan may become more limited.
Of course, D-I is not the only game in town.
As D-I athletic departments grapple with change, Division III schools — Wesleyan, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, Union and many more, where athletic scholarships are prohibited and sports programs are less intense (though still very competitive) — may see a bump in interest.
They won’t start paying athletes, cutting programs or facing roster caps. Westport student-athletes who may have tried for a D-I spot may realize D-3 is a more realistic option.
So what’s the game plan for current Staples, Weston and Greens Farms Academy teenage athletes?
“Read everything you can about this,” Kent advises.
“If you’re a highly recruited athlete who will be paid a lot of money, get an NIL agent.
“In all cases, be very careful about any offers that are not in writing, and signed by both parties.”
And of course: Look closely at D-III.
Play ball!
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On that day, final approval is expected for a historic
