Pac-12 reforms enhance ‘conference on a national level,’ Mora says

Pac-12 presidents announced reforms Monday where conference universities will guarantee four-year scholarships, extend coverage of medical expenses for players who are injured and cover costs for athletes who leave early and want to return to finish their educations.

“I think this enhances the strength of our conference on a national level,” UCLA football Coach Jim Mora said. “It is a real commitment to the student-athlete. It won’t help [any school] individually, but it gives our conference an edge.”

The reforms cover those with full scholarship and those with partial scholarships.

Athletes in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball receive full-ride scholarships. The others sports have scholarship equivalency, where scholarship is spread over several athletes. Few in those sports receive full scholarships.

A Pac-12 official said, “in sports where scholarships are divided, a coach must stipulate at the beginning how much a student-athlete will get each year over the four years.”

As an example, the Pac-12 official said a coach can give 25% of a scholarship the first year, 50% the next two years and 25% the fourth year. The amount can be increased for any given year, but it cannot be decreased.