NCAA President Mark Emmert yesterday said that the Power Five conferences should "prioritize the establishment of guaranteed scholarships, better insurance for student-athletes, new rules for dealing with agents and better concussion protocols," according to Pat Eaton-Robb of the AP. Emmert said that he would "like to see the conferences move immediately to provide scholarships that cover the entire cost of an education." He added that those packages also "should allow students who leave school early to pursue professional careers or for another reason to return and finish their degrees." Emmert also said that he would "like the Power Five vote to make sure students never have to pay out of pocket to cover any medical expenses related to their sport." He added that he also would "like to see the conferences immediately standardize protocols for dealing with concussions, saying every team should be required to have a medical professional on the sideline responsible for implementing concussion protocols." Emmert: "When those aren't followed, we need to explore how we hold people accountable for doing it, and there is not a system for doing that right now." Emmert "declined to say" whether he thought the concussion of Michigan QB Shane Morris "was handled properly." Meanwhile, he said that the current ban on players' contact with agents "actually hinders families who are trying to decide whether an athlete is ready to become a professional." Emmert: "It's hard to figure out what your market value really is without `professionalizing' yourself, and the whole nature of those relationships needs to be reconsidered" (AP, 10/8).
CONFERENCE CALLS: The Big Ten yesterday announced that all of its institutions will "grant athletic scholarships for the entire term of an athlete's enrollment and allow some athletes who leave school to return and finish their degrees on scholarship." ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg noted scholarships will be "'neither reduced nor cancelled' as long as athletes maintain good standing in school, within the athletic department and in the community." Several Big Ten schools previously "announced similar scholarship initiatives for athletes, but the league felt a policy statement was needed" after its ADs, senior woman administrators and faculty reps met Monday and Tuesday. Asked if he expects other leagues to follow the Big Ten's lead, Commissioner Jim Delany said, "I have no idea. I hope we're all moving here. It's the reason we asked for autonomy." The Big Ten this week also "discussed the response to head injuries during competition." Delany plans to "have NFL officials speak to the Big Ten schools about its injury-monitoring protocols" (ESPN.com, 10/8).
