College baseball, like it’s professional counterpart, is a game full of mystique, legend, and lore.  From the first “ping” of the bats in February to the hallowed grounds of Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, where the nation’s top eight teams battle it out in the College World Series each June, the sport has quirks, traditions, and rituals that you won’t find in the more popular collegiate sports of football and basketball.

What the sport doesn’t have is proper scholarship funding or realistic expectations regarding the academic progress of its athletes, at least when compared to football, basketball, and women’s sports.   While a Division I-A football program gets funding for 85 scholarships (enough to cover the entire educational expenses for roughly 75% of the roster) and basketball gets 13 scholarships for 15 to 20 players, baseball programs get the financial equivalent of 11.7 full scholarships to be divided among 35 players.

In the past, those funds could be distributed any way the coach saw fit.  Now, the NCAA has introduced legislation which would require coaches to give 33% of a full scholarship to 27 players (a total of nine full scholarships), with the remaining 2.7 scholarships to be distributed at the coach’s discretion, although each player receiving funding must get at least 33% of a full scholarship.

That sounds like it would benefit the players, and that’s the evil of it.  In reality, it means that each team can have a maximum of 2 players on full scholarship, leaving almost every player on the roster holding the bill for two-thirds of their educational expenses.  And that’s not the only problem that college baseball is about to face.

Beginning next season, no teams will be allowed to practice before February 1 or schedule games before the last weekend in February, which will condense the 56-game season into a shorter time period.  This means more traveling and more mid-week games, leaving less time for the athletes to spend on schoolwork.  And not only do they have to spend more time on the road and less time in the classroom, with less money to pay for it, they have to start meeting stricter academic standards, as well.

The NCAA requires all student-athletes to pass at least 24 credit hours of coursework in each school year.  Most athletes have the fall, spring, and summer semesters to complete those 24 hours, making them eligible by the beginning of the next fall term.  Baseball players have always operated on a different schedule.  Their school year, in terms of NCAA eligibility, is the equivalent of a calendar year, beginning with the spring semester and continuing through the summer and fall semesters.  Starting in the 2008-2009 season, however, baseball players will be required to complete their eligibility requirements by the beginning of the fall semester.  Since baseball players spend June through August playing in collegiate summer leagues, they don’t typically attend summer school.  This means that, while football and basketball players get three semesters to retain their eligibility, baseball players get only two, while trying to balance schoolwork with their athletic obligations, and part-time jobs, for those whose parents can’t afford the 67% of their expenses not covered by their partial scholarships.

So how does this affect high school baseball players?  For one, it complicates the decision of what to do after high school and where to do it.  For players who are good enough to play at the major Division I level but maybe not good enough for one of those two full scholarships, it means either funding most of your education yourself or playing for a lesser program where you have a better chance of getting more funding.  Also, given that out-of-state tuition is considerably more expensive than in-state tuition, it means fewer Texas high school players will be able to play for out-of-state colleges.  That might benefit college programs in the state of Texas, but it doesn’t benefit high school players who can’t or don’t want to play for them.

These new rules for college baseball will likely force more high school players into forgoing college completely and trying to go pro at the age of 17 or 18. 

Certainly, the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, believes it has ensured the future success of college baseball with these changes.  In the long run, however, all the NCAA has managed to ensure are fewer options for high school baseball players and a weakened college game.

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