By R.J. Anderson
Recently, our offices received a letter from Ron Polk, Head Baseball Coach at Mississippi State University. The 18-page correspondence was mailed to 1,421 recipients, including presidents and athletic directors from NCAA Division I schools that sponsor baseball. It was largely an appeal for the NCAA to revisit—and eventually override—new rules slated to go into place over the next few years, specifically those regulating the Academic Progress Rate and scholarship restrictions for NCAA Division I baseball teams.
Following the letter's mailing, over 50 Division I schools submitted votes requesting an override for a portion of the recent legislation. Whether or not Polk's letter was responsible for a large percentage of the override votes remains to be seen, but by exceeding the 30-vote minimum requirement, the Division I Board of Directors is required to review the rule at its Nov. 1 meeting. The override centers on the minimum scholarship percentage requirement for baseball players.
Follow the link to read Polk's letter, and for analysis on both the letter and the legislation from around the country.
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Polk, who has coached Mississippi State for all but four years since 1976, has long been an outspoken critic of the NCAA and the restrictions it has placed on Division I baseball. According to the Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi, Polk's boss, Mississippi State Athletic Director Larry Templeton, a member of the Baseball Academic Enhancement Group and Chair of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, had not read Polk's letter, and would not comment on the coach's methods.
"I'm not going to respond to either the question or the campaign," Templeton told the Clarion-Ledger. Templeton did say his group was putting together a proposal to the NCAA Board of Directors, but would not discuss specifics.
Templeton, and the rest of the enhancement group, were critical to passing a four-part piece of legislation earlier this year. The new rules stated:
• To play in the spring season, baseball players must be eligible at the start of the fall term, not just the spring term, as in the past.
• Scholarships must be a minimum of 25 percent of the total cost to attend school, and a program can't have more than 27 players on scholarship. No more than 35 players can be on the roster.
• Players who transfer must sit out a year.
• Baseball programs could lose games or practice time if their Academic Progress Rates fall.
The legislation stung Polk and he responded by saying that the changes were unnecessary and unfair. In his letter, he claimed that due to the nature of Division I baseball, academic proficiency and progress by players can't be measured by normal barometers.
Polk ended the letter pleading with the NCAA and its members to reconsider the rule changes.
"The solution is simple...Let the APR run its course for baseball. There was a rush to judgment. Accept that a mistake was made. That mistake, if allowed to linger, will have serious consequences for young men playing college baseball, and even from this old coach who is just trying to educate those who need to be educated about our unique sport. I do not wish to finish my 40-year coaching career being a cruel person."
To read a follow-up Q&A with Polk about this issue and his letter, click here.
For more information on APR requirements for NCAA Division I baseball, check out this recent Athletic Management article from our August/September 2007 issue.
R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: rja@momentummedia.com.
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