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NCAA 2025 Convention Summary

The annual NCAA Convention was held recently in Nashville. I’ll share below some of the key decisions and rule changes that were approved during the Convention.

As a side note, I was surprised to not see any mention of a formal discussion about the possibility of athletes being granted 5 years of playing eligibility given recent lawsuits against the NCAA.

Here’s a brief rundown of the approved rule changes that directly impact student-athletes:

NCAA Division I

For Division I (and for Division III), the only proposed rule change that directly impacts student-athletes is the approval of Women’s Wrestling as an official Championship Sport beginning next year. There will be one National Championship for NCAA sponsored teams across all three NCAA Divisions in 2026.

  • There were 76 NCAA schools (across all three Divisions) that sponsored a Women’s Wrestling team during the 2023-24 school year.
  • By the end of the 2024-25 school year, it’s expected that there will be 93 schools sponsoring a Women’s Wrestling team (4 in Division I, 34 in Division II and 55 in Division III).

NCAA Division II

Effective Fall 2025, an athlete in their first year of college enrollment will be able to redshirt as long as they participate in less than 30% of the maximum permissible games or dates of competition in their sport.

  • Note that this will only apply for an athlete who starts their college career at a D2 school.
  • This option will not be available for an athlete transferring to D2.

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Also, D2 member schools voted to eliminate the academic requirement that an athlete must earn at least 18 semester credit hours or 27 quarter credit hours during the regular academic year to be eligible for competition the following year.

Other academic requirements were retained for Division II eligibility:

  • An athlete must earn at least 9 semester credit hours or 8 quarter credit hours during each semester or quarter of full-time enrollment to be eligible to compete during the next term.
  • An athlete must earn a total of at least 24 semester credit hours or 36 quarter credit hours annually to be eligible (summer or winter credit hours can be included to satisfy this requirement).
  • An athlete must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00 to be eligible for competition.

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Athletes who were Qualifiers based on their high school academic performance and who are transferring to NCAA Division II from a two-year college will no longer be required to earn transferable credit hours in English, math or science courses to satisfy transfer eligibility requirements.

  • Those athletes will still need to satisfy other academic requirements to be eligible as a 2-4 transfer (such as earning at least 12 hours of transferable credit for each term of full-time enrollment at the two-year college, etc.).

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Finally, as in the other NCAA Divisions, D2 approved the addition of Women’s Wrestling as a Championship Sport starting in 2026. It was necessary that all three Divisions approved this to establish a Championship next year.

NCAA Division III

As mentioned above under Division I and Division II, the only proposed rule change affecting Division III athletes was the approval of Women’s Wrestling as an official NCAA Championship Sport beginning next year.

Do You Have Questions?

For questions about any of these actions taken at the NCAA Convention, you can contact us directly via e-mail at rick@informedathlete.com or by calling 913-766-1235.

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NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) Key Points and Rules

Last week, the NCAA approved an interim policy for “Name, Image and Likeness” (NIL) rules that became effective on July 1.  The new policy applies to both current NCAA student-athletes in all divisions as well as prospective student-athletes currently in high school, prep school or junior college.

This policy is an “interim” policy adopted by the NCAA due to the variety of state laws that have been proposed or signed into law and the lack of over-arching Federal legislation that the NCAA has not been able to achieve.

Here are a few of the key points regarding this interim policy:

  • This policy applies to all NCAA Divisions – I, II, and III
  • Individuals – both current NCAA student-athletes and prospects – “…can engage in NIL activities that are consistent with the law of the state where the student-athlete’s school is located.”
  • For prospective student-athletes in high school or junior college, they will need to also consider whether state NIL laws will impact their eligibility under their state high school federation rules or under the NJCAA or CCCAA rules.
  • Current NCAA student-athletes attending a college or university in a state that has not yet enacted an NIL law can participate in those activities without being concerned about violating NCAA rules regarding all NIL activities.
  • College and prospective student-athletes can use a professional services provider (such as an attorney or brand marketing agency) to assist with their participation in NIL activities.
  • Athletes will also need to consider any applicable rules regarding amateur status in their particular sport.  For example, golfers who accept compensation for NIL activities may be jeopardizing their amateur status under USGA rules.

The following NCAA rules will still apply to prospects and current student-athlete:

  • An individual may not accept payment for NIL activities that require the athlete to attend a particular university.
  • An athlete accepting “Pay for Play” will still jeopardize their NCAA eligibility.  While an athlete’s athletic ability or performance in an event or a season will impact their public and social media visibility, their athletic performance or contribution to a team’s success can’t be the factor that their compensation is based on.  Their compensation should instead depend upon their social media presence or their popularity with the public – how engaged they are to promote a product or service or in signing autographs.
  • An athlete can’t receive compensation for work that they don’t do.  While they may not actually be “doing anything” if they are receiving compensation for having their picture in a product advertisement, they are granting express permission for that product or service to use their picture.  So, in essence, they are “working” in exchange for their compensation.

The NCAA has prepared a list of “Interim Policy Resources” which can be found as you scroll down on the page that is linked below:

https://www.ncaa.org/about/taking-action

While we are not familiar with the various state laws that have been enacted across the country regarding NIL, we will do our best to answer your questions about NIL if you have questions that you’re not ready to pose to a college coach or compliance office.  Contact us at rick@informedathlete.com or by calling 913-766-1235.

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NCAA Convention Summary

The most significant rule change that was approved at the recent NCAA Convention will benefit the health and well-being of Division I student-athletes at a Power Five university.

  • Those athletic programs will be required to provide their athletes with information and access to available mental health services.
  • Non-Power 5 NCAA Division I programs will not be required to offer such services, but many will do so to keep pace with the universities they are recruiting and competing against.

Here’s a brief rundown of other rule changes that might be of interest to our readers: 

NCAA Division I

Power Five universities will be allowed to provide room and board to athletes participating in summer school activities (strength and conditioning, etc.) even if they aren’t enrolled in summer courses.

NCAA Division II

Division II student-athletes competing unattached next school year will be permitted to receive athletic training support or medical services from their university at a competition site.

Under current legislation, if a track athlete is competing unattached, for example, at a meet where their teammates are competing for the college, that athlete is not allowed to be treated by the athletic trainers from their own college. They would instead need to receive treatment from the staff of the college hosting the event. The new rule will allow an unattached athlete to receive medical assistance from their own athletic training staff starting next year.

NCAA Division III

High school or prep school students who choose to participate in college athletics in NCAA Division III will be permitted to receive funds to pay for their pre-college educational expenses from any person or entity as long as the funds don’t come from an agent, a pro sports team, or the booster of a Division III college. Another condition is that such funds must be paid directly to the athlete’s high school or prep school rather than to the athlete’s family.

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Informed Athlete: NLI Period by Rick Allen

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Rick Allen Quoted – Article on Kiara Austin

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Get an NCAA Rules Expert in your Corner!

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