The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the largest governing body for collegiate sports in the United States. More than 1100 schools from almost 100 conferences are members, with over 500,000 student-athletes participating in the 24 NCAA-governed sports. As a governing body, the NCAA is responsible for the rules that apply to each school, student, and sport across each of its three Divisions. These rules are complex, and it isn't unusual for a student-athlete to find that they are facing and NCAA investigation and potential discipline.
If you've learned that you're being accused of breaking an NCAA rule (also known as bylaw), you need the help of an experienced student defense attorney to help defend yourself during the investigation and disciplinary process. If you're attending college on an athletic scholarship, your future at the school may be at risk as well as your ability to play the sport that you love. In other cases, you may want the advice of an NCAA Lawyer before taking an important step such as signing with a school, transferring to another school, or deciding whether to enter a professional sports draft. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team is made up of experienced NCAA Attorneys who understand the NCAA's complicated disciplinary rules and procedures, and are ready to provide you with the defense and advice that you need. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help.
Why You Need an Advocate When the NCAA is Investigating You
The NCAA has separate manuals for each of its three divisions. Each manual includes the NCAA's constitution and the bylaws, or rules, that apply to that division. The manuals are extensive; the Division I manual runs for more than 400 pages; the Division II manual for more than 300 pages; and the Division III manual for nearly 250 pages. Navigating these detailed rulebooks can be difficult and is not unlike trying to understand the laws that a local or state government might apply to a given situation.
That's why if you're facing an eligibility or disciplinary issue with the NCAA, you will be far better off if you have an experienced NCAA Advocate in your corner, someone who understands which of the NCAA's many rules apply to your situation and who knows the NCAA investigative and disciplinary procedures and can help guide you through them.
The Types of Issues an NCAA Lawyer Can Help You With
You don't have to be under investigation by the NCAA for a rules violation to benefit from the services of an experienced NCAA Attorney. Because the NCAA rules are so complex, it's often a good idea to consult with your NCAA Attorney before making any decision that could change your status with the NCAA.
Transfer Issues
For example, transferring to another school can often have an effect on your eligibility to play at the new school. In some cases, the NCAA will waive any applicable transfer penalty, but only if a timely transfer waiver request is submitted that meets the NCAA's requirements for a waiver. Your NCAA Attorney can help you evaluate your potential transfer before you do anything that will affect your eligibility.
Initial and Ongoing Eligibility Issues
Initial eligibility for Division I and Division II student-athletes is also an area the NCAA regulates. The NCAA's Eligibility Center reviews the academic credentials of new student-athletes and will certify their initial eligibility to compete at a Division I or II school, which allows the student to make “official” campus visits. In some cases, students will need to boost their GPAs or coursework in order to meet the NCAA's initial eligibility standards and be certified by the NCAA for Division I and II play. An experienced NCAA Attorney can help you determine whether you are likely to face any issues with your initial eligibility determination, and in some cases may be able to help you take steps to overcome those issues before they impact your initial eligibility.
The NCAA also has requirements for maintaining eligibility while enrolled in school. These include GPA minimums, and course load requirements, core curriculum requirements, progress-toward-degree requirements, and others. Exceptions exist for many of these requirements, and an NCAA Lawyer can help you navigate these rules and their exceptions if you are facing academic challenges that could impact your eligibility.
Scholarship Changes
Athletic scholarships are another area the NCAA regulates. Schools at the Division I or II levels have limited numbers of scholarships that the NCAA allows them to award, and schools can change a student-athlete's scholarship award for a number of reasons. When that change means your scholarship is being reduced or even eliminated altogether, it makes sense to consult with an NCAA Lawyer who can help you review the situation and determine whether the school was acting within its rights.
Drug Testing and Appeals
The NCAA has strict rules about the use of certain banned substances and supplements, and student-athletes are regularly tested to ensure that they are in compliance with the NCAA's rules prohibiting their use. But drug tests aren't 100% accurate, and there are procedures in place for appealing positive test results for banned substances and supplements. In addition, there are medical exceptions that may apply in certain cases that will allow a student-athlete to use a specific drug for a legitimate therapeutic reason. In these cases, however, the student-athlete must typically apply for a medical exception in advance of taking the drug or supplement. In either case, it can be enormously helpful to have an NCAA Attorney who can assist you with your appeal or waiver request.
Disciplinary Matters
Just like all other students, student-athletes can find themselves accused of misconduct by their schools. This can take several forms: academic honor code violations; misconduct that goes against the school's disciplinary rules; Title IX violations; and off-campus criminal behavior that the school will also discipline the student for. The NCAA can also get involved when a student is facing serious campus discipline, with the result being that the student-athlete can face sanctions from both the NCAA and from their school for misconduct. Working with an NCAA Lawyer, particularly one with experience defending students accused of on-campus misconduct, can often make a significant difference in the outcome of these kinds of situations.
Other Areas Where an NCAA Attorney Can Help
With the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights for student-athletes, the potential to earn money from commercial endorsement and other promotional arrangements now exists for many student-athletes. Navigating the laws and NCAA rules that apply in these kinds of situations can be complicated; working with an experienced NCAA Attorney can help make sure you stay in compliance.
Particularly talented student-athletes may have an opportunity to play their sport professionally. In these cases, the NCAA has rules that apply to what steps the student-athlete can take towards achieving that goal. An NCAA Lawyer can help make sure the student-athlete doesn't violate NCAA rules relating to the steps a student-athlete can take to explore their potential as a professional.
Not every student-athlete has a good experience as a part of their school's athletic program. Student-athletes are sometimes mistreated by coaches and trainers; their injuries may be misdiagnosed or minimized; contact sports may leave them with concussion-related brain injuries that can affect them years down the road; and other issues may arise that could create a right for the student-athlete to seek compensation from the school for injuries they suffered. An experienced NCAA Lawyer can help student-athletes recover from their school for these and other types of wrongs.
The Lento Law Firm's NCAA Attorneys Can Help Student-Athletes
Because the NCAA's rules for student-athletes so complicated, and there are many ways that a student-athlete can find themselves in trouble with their school and the NCAA. The Lento Law Firm's NCAA Lawyers understand the complex and changing NCAA rules that apply to student-athletes at the Division I, Division II, and Division III levels. We are ready to advise you in a wide range of situations related to being a student-athlete at an NCAA school. Whether you need advice to make sure you're not violating NCAA rules, or have been accused of misconduct by the NCAA or your school and need a strong advocate on your team, the Lento Law Firm's NCAA Attorneys are here to help.
Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to learn more about how our NCAA Attorneys can help you.
