WASHINGTON (TNND) — The Final Four could have looked much different if President Donald Trump’s executive order on college sports were already binding.
Under the executive order’s guidelines, two star Michigan players — Yaxel Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett — could have potentially been ineligible. (TNND)
Under the executive order’s guidelines, two star Michigan players — Yaxel Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett — could have potentially been ineligible. The order titled “Urgent National Action to Save College Sports” would cap a player’s college sports eligibility at five years and limit an athlete to one school transfer with limited exceptions.
Lendeborg spent three years in junior college before heading to UAB for two years and then transferring to Michigan. Burnett is in his sixth season, and Michigan is his third school.
Legendary college football coach Nick Saban, who has been working with the White House on changing the rules.
“I think ultimately we need Congress to have some kind of, you know, antitrust legislation that keeps us from having litigation actually rule college sports,” he told Fox News on Monday.
NCAA President Charlie Baker also sounded supportive of the effort, calling it a “significant step forward.”
“On some of these issues, it’s hard for us to do it without at least some support from the feds,” Baker said ahead of the NCAA Women’s Final Four games that took place on April 3rd.
The potential rule changes could affect college athletes getting paid — a long-debated topic that has intensified since name, image and likeness (NIL) rules went into effect in 2021. The ability for college athletes to make money, transfer schools and potentially play far beyond four years are complex, intertwined issues, with many involved seeking clarity.
“If we want players to stay, sign them to long-term contracts and put buyouts in them. But the NCAA doesn’t want to do that because they don’t want them to be employees, they want to beg Congress for an antitrust exemption,” ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas said during a heated debate on the network’s College Gameday show over the weekend.
Arkansas basketball coach John Calipari was part of the network’s panel, raising concerns about age and safety thanks to the current transfer rules.
“A 17-year-old playing against a 28-year-old is not healthy and safe, it’s just not,” he said.
The executive order is not effective until Aug. 1. Even then, it does not yet have a law attached to make it binding. The order also threatens school funding for noncompliance, but that is likely to be challenged in court if Congress does not act.
