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Dead Period Reminder: Women’s Basketball April 5 – 18th surrounding the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Game and NLI regular signing period.  *Please note April 12-14th is a quiet period.*

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Dead Period Reminder: Men's Basketball April 4 - 11th (period surrounding the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game)

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Lovely day for some #utahtennis! #GoUtes

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Most beautiful day in SLC in a while. We took a break to play some touch football. Some of us took it more seriously than others... #crisproutes #softhands #soundtackles #utahspring

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Throwback Thursday. Remember when ncaa manuals had indexes for each bylaw? #thosewerethedays #convenient #TBT

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Sports Wagering

Why You Shouldn’t Bet on It:  A Current Case.

A popular topic that pops up every year around this time is sports wagering.  The NCAA’s Don’t Bet On It campaign points out each season as March Madness approaches the dangers associated with gambling.  A quick search on Twitter of the hash tag #dontbetonit yields dozens of results.  Compliance offices around the country do wonderful jobs of educating and warning athletics administrators and student-athletes on this subject.

However, we are occasionally reminded not everyone appreciates the message.  Some individuals either fail to grasp the severity of potential consequences for becoming involved in gambling, or the money is hard to resist.  The most recent example of this is Brandon Johnson, a former men’s basketball student-athlete at the University of San Diego.  Johnson was sentenced last week by a federal judge to six months in prison for participating in a scheme to fix games as part of an illegal gambling operation.  Johnson could have been sentenced to up to a year in prison.

The entire article can be found here:  http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/01/USD-basketball-game-fixing/?page=1#article-copy.

The story is worth reading, particularly the quotes from Johnson and the federal judge.  The judge points out that Johnson, USD’s all-time career leading scorer, will have a tarnished legacy like sports icons Pete Rose and Lance Armstrong.  Johnson denies he ever fixed games, but did apologize to his former school and supporters outside the courthouse.

This story is a good reminder to student-athletes everywhere there are serious consequences with gambling.  Is the risk of going to jail worth the money?  Let’s review some facts:

Johnson had (could still have, after prison) the potential to play professionally overseas or in the NBA D-League.  Granted, the average D-League salary is only anywhere from $12,000-$24,000 and many players supplement their incomes with other jobs.  However, Johnson will now spend six months not working, plus he will have to cover his legal expenses and will face character questions when applying for future jobs.  Additionally, overseas salaries have been reported anywhere from $65,000 to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars for the top players.  The federal government asserted Johnson made $5,000 - $10,000:  http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/mar/01/san-diego-basketball-star-gets-6-months-in-prison/.

Given the amount of money he reportedly made, his jail sentence and the potential loss in future earnings, it is unreasonable to say the money was worth it.  This case should serve as a strong warning to student-athletes everywhere not to get involved in gambling.  It doesn’t pay in the long run.

“Don’t bet on it.”

Contact Utah Compliance:  @uofucompliance, facebook.com/utah.compliance, or ask us a question via this blog.

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Mocktails and Mission Clocks.

This week in the Compliance Office, we held a meeting to discuss the effect of a religious mission on a student-athlete’s five year clock.  Missions are something we often deal with at Utah.  We also enjoyed a few appetizing mocktails during our meeting, as pictured.

A student-athlete has five calendar years from the first day of the semester (or quarter) in which he or she is first enrolled in a minimum full-time course program at a collegiate institution.  Exceptions to a five year clock include time spent in the armed services or official religious missions.  Here is the NCAA bylaw:

14.2.1 Five-Year Rule.  A student-athlete shall complete his or her seasons of participation within five calendar years from the beginning of the semester or quarter in which the student- thlete first registered for a minimum full-time program of studies in a collegiate institution, with time spent in the armed services, on official religious missions or with recognized foreign aid services of the U.S. government being excepted. For international students, service in the armed forces or on an official religious mission of the student’s home country is considered equivalent to such service in the United States. (Revised: 4/2/10)

Here is the NCAA definition of an official religious mission:

14.02.12 Religious Mission, Official.  An official religious mission is one that is established by the religious organization of which the individual is a member and that results in the individual being unable to attend a collegiate institution during the period of the mission. (Revised: 1/9/06, 4/2/10)

Now, we move into the effect on a student-athlete’s five year clock:

14.2.1.2 Service Exceptions to the Five-Year Rule.  Time spent in the armed services, on official religious missions or with recognized foreign aid services of the U.S. government is excepted from the application of the five-year rule. Among such services that qualify a student-athlete for an extension of the five-year rule are: (Revised: 4/2/10)

(a) Military Sea Transport Service;

(b) Peace Corps; or

(c) Service as a conscientious objector ordered by the Selective Service Commission (or the equivalent authority in a foreign nation) in lieu of active military duty.

14.2.1.2.1 Elapsed Time/Service to Enrollment.  If a student-athlete enrolls in a regular term of a collegiate institution at the first opportunity following completion of any one of the commitments described in the exceptions to this bylaw, the elapsed time (the exact number of calendar days) between completion of the commitment and the first opportunity for enrollment may be added to the exact number of days served on active duty in the armed services, with foreign aid services or on official religious missions and will not count toward the student-athlete’s five years of eligibility. It is not permissible to extend the five-year period by any additional time beyond the first opportunity to enroll (the opening day of classes of the first regular term at the institution in which the student-athlete enrolls as a regular student immediately following the termination of the active-duty commitment). (Revised: 4/2/10)

So, to recap, a student-athlete has five calendar years to participate in four seasons of competition from the initial date of their first time enrollment.  For example, a student-athlete who enrolled full-time at Utah, for the first time anywhere, before last fall semester would have begun his or her clock on August 20, 2012 (the first day of classes).  This student-athlete’s clock would be stopped if he or she were to serve a religious mission.  The question becomes, how long would the clock stop?  Essentially, how many calendar days would the student-athlete have added back to his or her calendar?

Well, let’s continue with our example of a student-athlete who started his or her clock on August 20, 2012.  We’ll pretend the student-athlete attended one semester and left for a religious mission on January 15, 2013.  Typically, the religious missions we deal with are LDS missions and last approximately two years.  So, we’ll say they student-athlete returns on January 30, 2015.  This means he or she would have been away for 745 days.  However, (stick with me here) because the student-athlete’s first opportunity to re-enroll in a full-time program of studies would likely be August 17, 2015, his or clock would remain paused through August 16, 2015.  This means the student-athlete would have 944 days, or about two and a half years, added to the end of his or her clock. 

TLDNR:  Add the days from the date the S-A departed until the next available enrollment date for a regular academic term (fall/spring) to the original five year clock expiration date.

Contact Utah Compliance:  @uofucompliance, facebook.com/utah.compliance, or ask us a question via this blog.

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A Utah student-athlete studying hard in the Burbidge Center computer lab. Under NCAA Bylaw 16.3, Utah Athletics is obligated to make academic counseling and tutoring services available. We are also permitted to provide computers and study space. The SA in this photo is using those resources to expand her knowledge of business statistics. #mindswagger

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Hello!

Welcome to the Official Blog of the University of Utah Athletics Compliance Office.  This our first ever post!  Here is a bit about what you can expect from this blog: we will be posting photos, links, rules interpretations, and generally sharing information related to Athletics Compliance.  We encourage you to ask questions!