The College Athletes Players Association (CAPA) and Executive Director Ramogi Huma’s (Huma) efforts to unionize the Northwestern University football team failed when the National Labor Relations Board refused to rule on the legal ability of these student athletes to form a union. Huma has now shifted his focus to working with the National College Players Association (NCPA) in an effort to impact the relationship between student-athletes and colleges with the creation of the College Athlete Protection Guarantee (Guarantee) and the College Athlete Protection Agreement (Agreement).

The Guarantee and the Agreement were recently introduced at the National Basketball Players Association’s camp held at the University of Virginia for the top 100 rising high school senior basketball players. The Guarantee encourages these highly recruited basketball recruits and other student-athletes who are being recruited to play college sports to use their leverage to request and negotiate issues like their right to secure medical treatment and insurance beyond the years of collegiate athletic eligibility and to seek an automatic scholarship release if they decide to transfer to another university.

The Guarantee claims that student athletes can secure additional protections and benefits that could be worth over $100,000 more than minimum scholarships without breaking any NCAA rules. The Guarantee encourages transparency on protections and benefits because Huma claims coaches often break verbal promises and stated,

“Coaches themselves don’t rely on verbal promises from their college and neither should you.”

Huma further asserts, “..this will change things. This is a good place to start. It opens a Pandora’s Box.”

The Agreement, already vetted by NCAA experts according to Huma, can be used instead of the National Letter of Intent (“NLI”) or in conjunction with the NLI. The additional protections and benefits that Huma and the NCPA encourage student athletes to seek are:

  • Guaranteed multi-year scholarships that cannot be terminated
  • Summer school scholarships
  • Degree completion scholarships to provide continued financial support to complete undergraduate degrees if athletic eligibility has expired
  • Stipend and reimbursement money in excess of NCAA “full” scholarship coverage
  • Medical expense coverage for 100% of all premiums and sports-related expenses, including deductibles and copays
  • Transfer releases
  • Disability Insurance

Tom Nevius, a former NCAA associate director of enforcement, has been serving as an advisor to Huma and the NCPA suggested,

“This has a chance to be successful if you find a coach or a school who is interested in bringing in a top prospect.”

 

 

 

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of Gregg E. Clifton Gregg E. Clifton

Gregg E. Clifton is a Principal in the Phoenix, Arizona, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is Co-Leader of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Practice Group and serves as the editor of the firm’s sports law blog.

Mr. Clifton has extensive experience in…

Gregg E. Clifton is a Principal in the Phoenix, Arizona, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is Co-Leader of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Practice Group and serves as the editor of the firm’s sports law blog.

Mr. Clifton has extensive experience in the collegiate and professional sports world. He has advised numerous professional franchises on general labor and employment issues, including Title III ADA regulatory compliance and wage and hour issues. He serves as lead counsel for several Major League Baseball teams in their salary arbitration matters and has represented NCAA and NAIA collegiate clients regarding rules compliance, investigatory matters and in disciplinary hearings. In addition, he has handled Title IX investigations and compliance issues for NCAA and NAIA member institutions. Mr. Clifton has also worked extensively in the area of agent regulation and enforcement in professional and college sports and regularly provides counsel on issues relating to NCAA and NAIA amateurism issues and athlete eligibility questions. He has also served as an expert witness in matters involving sports agents’ work and responsibilities, as well as athlete compensation issues.

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, he spent six years as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Team Sports for Gaylord Sports Management. He also served as President of the Athlete and Entertainment Division for famed sports attorney Bob Woolf’s firm, Woolf Associates, in Boston.

Mr. Clifton began his career as an Associate at Jackson Lewis where he focused his practice on traditional labor law. He continues to counsel clients in the areas of collective bargaining negotiations, representation cases, arbitrations and National Labor Relations Board matters.

Mr. Clifton frequently serves as an expert speaker to law schools, including Harvard University, Boston College, Hofstra University and Arizona State University, and bar associations regarding sports law issues, including agent regulation and salary arbitration. He is also often cited as an expert source in national news media for his commentary and opinion on legal issues in sports.