The NCAA's Div. I Board of Directors "voted this week
to set aside" $10M into an escrow account in order to "save
some money to help pay a court judgement" regarding
restricted-earnings coaches, according to Steve Rock of the
K.C. STAR. The board's decision to withhold the money, "an
amount originally earmarked for distribution to the NCAA's
member schools," is "another effect of the ill-fated
`restricted-earnings' rule," an NCAA bylaw that limited the
salaries of some assistant coaches to $16,000 a year. But
the NCAA's Management Council, a group of university
officials representing various conferences, recommended that
the organization "release the funds to the member schools."
Iowa AD Bob Bowlsby: "We'd rather have the money." With the
NCAA's revenue "projected" to increase this year by almost
$16M and its distribution to the schools remaining "flat,"
NCAA execs "want to dump the surplus" into the escrow while
member schools "want it for themselves." The NCAA has a
reserve fund that "could be" in the $30M range at the end of
'98-99, and it "continues to explore ways to resolve the
restricted-earnings crisis." However, the process could
take as long as a year due the organization hierarchy's
"intentions to appeal the damages" (K.C. STAR, 10/29).
