In the event Mo'ne Davis wants to pursue a collegiate athletics career, she won't be retroactively punished for appearing in a Chevrolet ad that ran during Game 1 of the World Series.
The NCAA acted quickly to confirm that Davis could receive compensation for her appearance without threatening her eligibility:
Emily James, a spokeswoman for the NCAA, also released a statement, per Darren Rovell of ESPN.com:
The NCAA staff's decision was made within this process and based on a combination of considerations. This waiver narrowly extends the rules -- which allow Davis to accept the payment and still be eligible in any other sport -- to include baseball. The NCAA staff also considered the historically limited opportunities for women to participate in professional baseball. In addition, Davis is much younger than when the vast majority of the prospect rules apply. While this situation is unusual, the flexible approach utilized in this decision is not.
Dan Wolken of USA Today felt that the NCAA's decision was about avoiding another possible public relations problem regarding its continued defense of amateurism:
Jon Solomon of CBSSports .com agreed with the move but wondered whether other exceptions could be made in the future if this will become the precedent:
For those who forget, Davis helped the Taney Dragons of Philadelphia reach the 2014 Little League World Series, rising to fame as the team's ace and one of its best offensive players. She played well enough to earn a Sports Illustrated cover. The commercial, which was directed by Spike Lee, in part summarized her whirlwind summer.
Despite her success on the diamond, Davis only has eyes for the hard court, in particular the Connecticut Huskies. During the LLWS , she talked to ESPN about her desire to join the Huskies and be coached by Geno Auriemma .
"I want to go to UConn and be the point guard on the basketball team," she said, via John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant . "That's like my dream and then go into the WNBA . That's for Geno. Geno has to know."
This isn't Davis' first run-in with the NCAA, either. Auriemma made a phone call to Davis while she was playing in the LLWS . Another school filed a complaint with the American Athletic Conference, and Auriemma was slapped with a secondary rules violation.
It will be interesting to see if the NCAA's ruling about Davis has any sort of long-term impact on the prospect of college athletes receiving additional forms of compensation.
The NCAA might have inadvertently opened a can of worms.
//from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/129QKyD
via IFTTT October 21, 2014 at 10:20PM
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