NCAA Funding Edict May Squeeze Out Many Schools

As many as 70 schools could be bounced from NCAA Division I if they don’t spend more money on men’s and women’s sports other than football and basketball.

Schools most likely to be affected by the action today at the NCAA convention are smaller Division I institutions whose only prominent program is basketball, as well as those schools making the minimum financial commitment to athletics.

Also approved today were Presidents Commission-sponsored scholarship cuts for all sports, amounting to 10% across the board. Despite strong opposition from coaches, Division I-A football scholarships will be reduced from 95 to 85 by 1995, and basketball grants will be cut from 15 to 13 over the same period.

An estimated 50 to 70 of the lesser of the 295 Division I schools could be affected by the restructuring requirements, which were sponsored by the NCAA Council. The new rules mandate that seven men’s and women’s sports be sponsored instead of the current six and set minimum financial expenditures at $250,000 for the seven sports for men and a like amount for the seven sports for women.

As expected, smaller Division I schools fought the plan, but with less success than they mustered the four previous times the issue has come to the convention floor since 1973.

The item setting minimum financial and-or scholarship commitments was approved, 175-149.

“I believe this sets a very bad precedent for the NCAA, particularly in view of the current economic situation in this country,” said William Hytche, president of Maryland-Eastern Shore. “For the first time, we aren’t talking about educational opportunities or schedules, but we’re talking a purely financial requirement.”

Delegates did vote to allow schools to reduce their required athletic aid by counting “institutional” financial aid that an athlete receives in addition to a sports scholarship.

Delegates made a concession to predominantly black institutions and others whose student bodies receive large amounts of federal assistance. Those schools will need to meet only half the requirements for scholarships or expenditures.