by Mike McMahon/ (@mikemcmahon)
Amidst all of the changes at the NCAA level, Brad Elliott Schlossman of The Grand Forks Herald spoke with CCHA commissioner Don Lucia and NCHC commissioner Heather Weems about hockey’s deferred enrollment rule.
In the 1980s, players would leave their junior team during playoffs if they hit their 21st birthday. The NCAA rule was that you’d lose a year of eligibility if you competed after turning 21. In the late ’90s, the workaround was that players had to enroll in college during the winter semester and “transfer” to an NCAA school the following year.
The college hockey commissioners’ concern is that the NCAA has been identifying outliers in the rules across all sports (i.e. the recent change to the CHL rule), and some NCAA decision-makers may not understand the junior hockey dynamic or why deferred enrollment exists.
A few coaches told me earlier this month that they were concerned that “non-hockey people” could eliminate the exception. A few coaches have also pushed for college hockey to legislate itself.
“Right now, it’s more of a ‘could be,’ but in the environment we’re in, the NCAA is looking at anything that’s a bit of an outlier,” Weems told Schlossman. “While there’s been no specific conversation or action, it’s an area we’re tracking, because it’s an outlier like professionalization. We’re trying to make sure that our folks in the NCAA are aware, because so often, hockey is an outlier.”
Lucia added, “We want to make sure they’re educated on why hockey is different as they look to standardize rules. We’re an outlier. We think it’s in the best interest of our sport and the student-athletes that we keep the runway as it is to enter college.”
On other NCAA matters, will the NCAA get congressional help?
Last week, Sportico’s Daniel Libit and Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger wrote that the NCAA might get congressional help with Republicans taking over the White House and both congressional bodies.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is set to become the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over NCAA compensation issues, according to Amanda Christovich of Front Office Sports.
Cruz said NCAA legislation will be a priority:
“Right now, the current world of college…
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