Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Agents

It is essential that student-athletes know the NCAA rules related to professional sports. A violation of the rules concerning agents could have severe negative consequences for the University and the student-athlete. In order to remain eligible for intercollegiate competition, NCAA rules stipulate that a student-athlete may not:

1. Agree, either orally or in writing, to be represented by an agent or organization in the marketing of his/her athletic ability or reputation until after completion of his/her collegiate eligibility. In addition, representation by an agent may not be arranged until after the last intercollegiate contest, including post-season games.

2. Negotiate or sign a playing contract in any sport in which the student-athlete intends to compete.

3. Ask to be placed on a professional league's draft list. EXCEPTION: according to NCAA bylaw 12.2.4.2.1 there is an exception for the Professional Basketball Draft in that a student-athlete in the sport of basketball may enter a professional league's draft one time during his or her collegiate career without jeopardizing eligibility in that sport, provided the student-athlete declares, in writing, his/her intention to resume intercollegiate participation within 30 days after the draft.

4. Accept payment of expenses or gifts of any kind (including meals and transportation) from an agent.

5. Receive preferential benefits or treatment (for example, loans with deferred pay-back basis) because of reputation, skill, or pay back potential as a professional athlete.

6. Retain professional services for personal reasons at less than the normal charge from a representative of his/her school's athletic interests.

Agents Committee

The NCAA has asked that each institution provide a career-counseling panel to aid the student-athlete in avoiding the pitfalls of dishonest agents. To that end, Villanova has established a Career Counseling Committee. The members of the Committee have expertise in the area of professional agents. The Committee will:

1. Supply information to the student-athlete regarding professional career opportunities.

2. Screen and evaluate potential agents to represent the student-athlete.

3. Evaluate contracts.

The Chair of the Committee is Dottie Malloy, University Vice President and General Counsel. For information, contact her at (610) 519-7857.

Amateurism

Eligibility

The following are NCAA guidelines for maintaining athletic amateur eligibility:

WITHIN YOUR SPORT, YOU MAY NOT:

1. Accept payment, or a promise of payment (in cash, prizes, gifts, or travel) for participation in your sport.

2. Enter into an agreement of any kind to compete in professional athletics. (You cannot negotiate a verbal or written professional contract).

3. Request that your name be put on a draft list for professional sports (other than basketball), or try out with a professional sports organization during the academic year. You may try out during the summer and retain your eligibility so long as you receive no expenses whatsoever from the professional organization.

4. Use your athletic skill for payment. (You cannot be employed on a "fee for lesson" basis).

5. Play on any professional athletic team.

6. Have your athletically related financial aid determined by anyone other than the University.

7. Participate on teams other than those of Villanova University during the academic year, except during published vacation periods.

IN ANY SPORT, YOU MAY NOT:

1. Agree to have your picture or name used to promote a commercial product.

2. Accept such things as gifts, meals, loans of cars or money from athletic interest groups or people within the athletics program at the University.

3. Be represented by an agent or organization to market your athletic skill or reputation.

4. Receive any benefit that is not available to other students at the University.

5. Participate in a summer league not approved by the NCAA. (You must have written permission from the Director of Athletics for summer league participation).

IF IN DOUBT, ASK FIRST!

Awards and Benefits

Complimentary Admissions

A student-athlete will be provided four complimentary admissions for any sport in which he/she participates. The student-athlete must designate the recipients of the complimentary admission in writing in advance. No hard tickets will be issued. Admission will be via pass list.

Charges Not Paid By the Athletics Department

The types of expenses listed below are not covered and must be paid by the student-athlete:

1. All phone charges.

2. Cost of treatment for non-athletically related injuries.

3. "Consumable@ charges (i.e. lab fees for breakage, non-required field trips, etc.).

4. Library fines, parking fines or fines for damage to University property, including residence halls.

5. Key deposits or the cost of key replacements.

6. Replacement costs for lost Student I.D.'s.

7. School supplies, dictionaries, reference books, pens, notebooks, paper, art supplies, etc.

8. Vehicle registration fees or parking stickers.

9. University breakage deposit.

10. Use of institutional phones to call off campus is strictly prohibited.

11. Use of institutional copy machines is prohibited.

Gambling

1. Student-athletes shall not knowingly:

• Provide information to individuals involved in organized gambling activity concerning intercollegiate athletic competition,
• Solicit a bet on any team representing the institution,
• Accept a bet on any team representing the institution,
• Participate in any gambling activity through a bookmaker, a parlay, or any other method employed by organized gambling, or
• Participate in any gambling activity involving collegiate or professional sports.

INVOLVEMENT IN ANY OF THESE ACTIVITIES WILL RESULT IN YOUR IMMEDIATE DISMISSAL FROM THE ATHLETICS PROGRAM AND/OR CANCELLATION OF YOUR ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP.

Enforcement

If a student-athlete is found to be in violation of University or Departmental policies, the penalty imposed depends upon the severity of the offense and may include the following:

1. Written warning.

2. Disciplinary probation.

3. Dismissal from the squad.

4. Cancellation or gradation of financial aid.

5. Suspension or expulsion from the University.

In addition to awareness of the gambling and bribery threat to the integrity of intercollegiate sports, student-athletes are responsible for the following:

1. Reporting to their coach any offers of gifts, money or favors in exchange for supplying team information or for attempting to alter the outcome of any contest.

2. Maintaining a clear understanding of what constitutes gambling and bribery activities and reporting any suspected infractions.

3. Increasing their awareness that participation in gambling or bribery activities can result in disciplinary actions by the University and the NCAA, as well as local, state and/or federal prosecution of the involved individual(s).

Employment

Department staff members, under the direct supervision of the Director of Athletics, may attempt to assist athletes in securing employment. Such contacts on behalf of student-athletes are made in compliance with Departmental, as well as NCAA rules and regulations.

A listing of part-time jobs for on and off campus employment is available in the Office of Athletics Student Services.

Scholarship Student-Athletes

1. Full scholarship athletes will be permitted to work and earn an income during the academic year, provided such income does not exceed $2,000.00. Further, student-athletes must have spent one academic year in residence (freshmen and transfers are not eligible).

2. Partial scholarship athletes may work during the semester and earn up to the cost of attendance.

3. The work performed must be useful, and the rate of pay is to be at a normal (i.e. reasonable) rate for the duties performed.

4. The hours paid must be for the hours worked. Payment in advance of hours worked is not permitted.

5. Transportation to work may only be accepted if transportation is available to all employees.

6. Student-athletes who wish to coach or teach skills in their sports during the summer (or official vacation periods) may do so as long as they do not receive payment on a fee-for-lesson basis.

Financial Aid

A full grant-in-aid is a scholarship which includes tuition, room and board, fees and books-on-loan. A partial grant-in-aid is a scholarship covering some, but not all, of the expenses covered by a full grant-in-aid.

Scholarship Books On Loan

Required Textbook-on-Loan

Some Athletic Scholarship Awards include Required Textbook-on-Loan. It is the responsibility for those student-athletes who receive such awards to follow the regulations regarding this program. Failure to comply may result in monetary charges and/or loss of the Required Textbook-on-Loan benefit.

1. The book cards are located in the Compliance Office. There is a sign-out sheet located in the office. All book cards must be signed in and out. The student-athletes will also be given a contract outlining their responsibilities and the purpose of the card. Book cards are given out at the beginning of each semester. All student-athletes have 5 2 weeks to purchase their books.

2. Student-athletes who lose their book cards are required to pay a fee of $5.00.

3. BOOK BUY BACK IS HELD AT THE END OF EACH SEMESTER. There will be signs posted throughout the athletics department regarding the date, place, and time for each book buy back. In addition, notification will be sent to coaches, secretaries and compliance liaisons for each sport.

• The returning of all book cards and books is the responsibility of the student-athletes.

  For any additional information concerning the Required Textbook-on-Loan Program, contact the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance.

  Athletic Scholarship

  A financial award which is given to a student-athlete based upon athletic ability or sports performance is considered an athletic grant.

  A qualifying student-athlete may receive an athletic grant upon recommendations of the coach with approval from the Director of Athletics. An offer of a financial award is contingent upon admittance to the University and the student-athlete's academic standing. Returning student-athletes must be academically eligible and making normal progress toward a degree to be eligible for an award.

  Presently, the cost of tuition and fees, room and board and use of required course related books is the maximum amount awarded under an athletic grant. Grants for lesser amounts are also given. It is important that all textbooks be returned at the close of each semester. Students will be billed for textbooks which are not returned.

  An athletic grant is issued for one academic year and may be renewed for the next academic year. This renewal is contingent upon the attainment of academic eligibility and normal progress requirements. Continued participation is also required.

  Athletic Scholarship Policy

  1. The total amount of financial aid (excluding bona fide loans and aid from family) for athletes receiving athletic grants or other University designated financial aid (such as student employment, college work study, SEOG, University Scholarships or Grants, etc.) may not exceed the cost of tuition and fees, room and board, and the cost of required, course related books. However, an athlete receiving a PELL Grant may receive the maximum award for miscellaneous expenses as permitted under the PELL Grant program.

  2. An athlete who fails to meet academic eligibility and normal progress requirements relative to the athlete's sport season by the first competition or the first day of classes, whichever comes first, may lose his/her athletic grant.

  3. If a student-athlete is injured during practice, competition, or University sponsored travel to or from competition under Intercollegiate Athletics auspices, that student's athletic grant will be continued until the athlete receives his/her baccalaureate degree or through the athlete's fifth year of enrollment, whichever comes first. During the student-athlete's enrollment at the University, approved medical expenses will be covered under this policy.

     The University's obligation to provide medical care and financial aid under this policy will terminate immediately if appropriate University medical staff certify that an injured athlete has recovered sufficiently to permit competition and the athlete voluntarily chooses not to participate in athletics.

  4. An athletic grant may be withdrawn if the student-athlete:
     • fails to meet academic eligibility and normal progress requirements as defined by the student-athlete's sport season,
     • voluntarily quits the team,
     • loses amateur status in the student-athlete's sport,
     • does not make the team,
     • fraudulently misrepresents any information on an application, letter of intent or tender, or
     • engages in serious misconduct warranting substantial disciplinary penalty.

  5. If a student-athlete's grant is withdrawn for any reason, the student-athlete has a right to a campus review of the action. Information regarding the procedure is available from the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance.

  6. Pregnancy is considered an illness and is not a basis for withdrawal of athletic aid.

  7. Graduate School. The decision to further athletic scholarship awards for athletes who have attained his/her baccalaureate degree and still have remaining eligibility shall be at the discretion of the coach.

  Non-Scholarship Student-Athletes

  A non-scholarship student-athlete (also referred to as "walk-on") is entitled to all the benefits of scholarship student-athletes, except athletic grant-in-aid awards and benefits arising from these awards. The following benefits are made available to all student-athletes:

  1. Academic advising assistance (i.e. tutoring, career counseling, etc.).

  2. Training room treatment for athletically-related injury.

  3. Strength and conditioning facility use.

  4. Referrals for vacation and permanent employment.

  5. Team travel and equipment use.

  6. Training table participation during pre-season practice until the dormitory opens.

  Playing and Practice Season

  IN-SEASON

  During season, practice/competition is limited to a maximum of 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week. (Golf: a practice round of golf may exceed the 4 hour daily limitation, but the 20 hour a week rule is still in effect). In addition, one day off a week which is free from all countable athletic activities, is mandatory. A travel day may be used as the official day off. Please note: any competition counts as 3 hours toward the maximum of 20.

  Activities Considered as Countable Athletic Activities:

  Practice: Practice is any meeting, activity or instruction involving sports-related information and having an athletics purpose, held for one or more student-athletes at the direction of, or supervised by, any member or members of an institution's coaching staff.

  Activities Considered as Practice: Practice shall be considered to have occurred if one or more coaches and one or more student-athletes engage in any of the following activities:

  1. Team conditioning or physical-fitness activities.

  2. Field, floor or on-court activity.

  3. Setting up offensive or defensive alignments.

  4. Chalk talk.

  5. Lecture on or discussion of strategy relating to the sport.

  6. Activities utilizing equipment relating to the sport.

  7. Discussions or review of game films, motion pictures or videotapes relating to the sport.

  8. Activities conducted under the guise of physical education class work (i.e. any class composed of or including primarily members of an intercollegiate team on a required attendance basis or where the class utilizes equipment for the sport).

  9. Required weight-training and conditioning activities held at the direction of or supervised by an institutional staff member.

  10. Participation in a physical-fitness class conducted by a member of the athletics staff.

  11. Film or videotape reviews of athletic practices or contests required, supervised or monitored by institutional staff members.

  12. Required participation in camps, clinics or workshops.

  13. Meetings initiated by coaches or other institutional staff members on athletically related matters.

  14. Individual workouts required or supervised by a member of the coaching staff.

  15. On-court or on-field activities called by any member or members of a team and confined primarily to members of that team that are considered as requisite for participation in that sport (i.e. captain's practices).

  Activities Not Considered as Countable Athletic Activities:

  The following are considered non-countable athletically related activities and are not counted in the weekly or daily time limitations:

  1. Training table or competition related meals.

  2. Physical rehabilitation.

  3. Dressing, showering or taping.

  4. Athletics department academic study hall or tutoring sessions.

  5. Meetings with coaches on non-athletic matters.

  6. Travel to and from practice and competition.

  7. Medical examinations or treatments.

  8. Participation in regular physical education classes, with or without credit, that are listed in the institution's catalog and open to all students.

  9. Voluntary individual workouts, provided these workouts are not required or supervised by coaching staff members, except that such activities may be monitored for safety purposes by the institution's strength and conditioning personnel.

  10. Individual consultation with a coaching staff member initiated voluntarily by a student-athlete, provided the coach and the student-athlete do not engage in athletically related activities.

  11. Use of an institution's athletics facilities by student-athletes, provided the activities are not supervised by or held at the direction of any member of an institution's coaching staff. In the event that use of an institution's facilities is requested by a team composed partly of enrolled student-athletes and partly of individuals not otherwise affiliated with the institution, use of the facilities shall be consistent with policies established for outside groups generally.

  12. Involvement of an institution's strength and conditioning staff with enrolled student-athletes either in a supervisory capacity for the institution's weight-training facilities or assisting in conditioning programs. Such assistance may be provided only if the strength and conditioning staff performs its duties on a department-wide basis.

  Safety Exceptions: A coach may be present during voluntary individual workouts in the institution's regular practice facility (without the workouts being considered as countable athletically related activities) in the following situations, and the coach may spot or provide safety or skill instructions but cannot conduct the individual's workouts:

  1. Swimming and Diving - when the student-athlete is engaged in swimming and diving,

  2. Track and Field - when the student-athlete is engaged in field events,

  3. Water Polo - when the student-athlete is engaged in water polo.

  OFF-SEASON

  A student-athlete's involvement in the activities listed below shall be limited to a maximum of eight hours a week.

  1. Required weight-training and conditioning activities held at the direction of or supervised by an institutional staff member.

  2. In all sports other than football, two hours a week may be utilized as individual skill-related instruction at the request of the student-athlete. No more than four student-athletes may be involved at one time.

  Off Season practice shall not be considered to have occurred in the following activities:

  1. Practice for any established event, participation in which is not prohibited by the NCAA, provided such practice is limited to students eligible for that event.

  2. A single game or contest played before the end of the NCAA championship between undergraduate student-athletes who are or were members of the institution's squad and for which there is no organized practice (i.e. seniors vs. next year's squad).

  3. Voluntary participation by student-athletes in weight-training or conditioning programs utilizing the institution's facilities outside the institution's established playing season in a sport, provided such activities are supervised only by members of the institution's strength and conditioning staff or, in the sport of Division I-A Football, athletics trainers, who perform such duties on a department-wide basis.

  4. Use of an institution's athletics facilities by student-athletes, provided the activity is not supervised by or held at the direction of any member of the institution's coaching staff.

  5. Use of an institution's athletics facilities by a group composed partly of enrolled student-athletes and partly of individuals not otherwise affiliated with the institution, provided the activity is not supervised by or held at the direction of any member of the institution's coaching staff, and provided the use of the facilities is consistent with policies established for outside groups, in general.

  Special Assistance Fund For Student-Athletes

  The NCAA has provided funds to assist student-athletes with special financial needs. In order to be eligible for this program, the student-athlete must either be a PELL grant recipient or have unmet financial needs beyond the value of a full grant-in-aid, as demonstrated by a needs analysis. In order to determine a student-athlete's financial needs, financial aid forms must be filed annually.

  Permissible Uses:

  1. Medical Expenses (except those covered by insurance, either institutional or personal).

  2. Hearing aids.

  3. Vision Therapy (i.e. contact lenses, eyeglasses).

  4. Off-campus psychological counseling.

  5. Travel expenses for parents or student-athletes related to family emergencies. The Athletics Department will assist in making these arrangements.

  6. Purchase of expendable academic course supplies (i.e. notebooks, pens) and rental of non-expendable supplies (i.e. computer equipment, cameras) that are required for all students enrolled in the course.

  7. Articles of clothing and shoes, up to $500.00.

  Foreign and Domestic Student-Athletes not Receiving Pell Grants

  1. The awarding institution must certify in writing through the signature of the Director of Financial Assistance that the student-athlete has unmet financial needs beyond the value of a full grant-in-aid, as certified by the International Student Advisor.

  2. The written certification must be submitted with the application form to the conference office, and a copy also must be on file in the office of the Director of Athletics.

  3. Student-athletes who do not receive Pell Grants are eligible for the fund only if they are receiving full grants-in-aid from their institutions.

  See the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance for appropriate forms to apply for the fund.

  Summer League Competition

  When competing in a summer league, student-athletes should notify and obtain approval from their coaches and from the Director of Compliance. If a student-athlete does not obtain approval, he/she may jeopardize future athletic eligibility.

  GUIDELINES FOR ALL SPORTS EXCEPT BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL:

  1. Competition must be during Villanova University's official summer vacation.

  2. Notify your coach before competing.

  3. Obtain permission from the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance before competing.

  GUIDELINES FOR BASEBALL AND BASKETBALL:

  1. Competition must be between June 15th and August 31st.

  2. Must be an NCAA sanctioned league.

  3. Notify your coach before competing.

  4. Obtain permission from the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance before competing. Basketball players must have written permission.

  5. You may play on one team in one league only.

  Transferring

  Should you decide to transfer to another institution, the following NCAA regulations will apply:

  1. Permission - Contact the school(s) you are considering. Before that coach may speak to you regarding his/her interest in your transfer, the Athletics Director at that institution must seek written permission from Villanova University to speak to you. The contact person on our campus is the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance. If permission is granted, the transfer institution may begin the recruiting process with you. If permission is denied, no recruiting activities may take place. Also, if permission is denied, you may request a hearing to challenge the denial.

  2. Residency Requirement - NCAA regulations require that a transfer student-athlete from one four-year institution to another be a matriculating student for two semesters (excluding summer school) before becoming eligible for competition. A waiver of this requirement is available. If the original institution grants the waiver, the student may transfer and be eligible for competition immediately. It is the prerogative of the original institution to waive the requirement.

  If you are contemplating a transfer, see John Robinson for further information.