WCU faculty member: National Letter of Intent pros and cons
Last week the university released the player, Kelsey Evans, from her national letter of intent. She will play this year for conference rival Elon.
In a column in today’s Asheville Citizen-Times, WCU faculty member and athletics committee member Justin Menickelli takes us for a tour of the National Letter of Intent.
An excerpt:
Critics of the NLI are many. Some call the NLI a “contract of adhesion,” because it heavily favors athletic departments over recruits. Because of NCAA signing periods, issues surrounding the NLI are most prevalent in college basketball. A lot can change from the time a recruit signs an NLI in November of their senior year of high school and when they arrive on a college campus 10 months later. The fairness of the NLI is most often called into question when the head coach leaves for another school. In these cases, the recruit is locked in to play for a new coach. This happens often in the coaching carousel that has become NCAA basketball.
Another:
Of course, signing an NLI before the senior year of high school can benefit the recruit. If athletes do not perform well as seniors or become injured, they have a sort-of safety net. Some student-athletes report playing their senior year under less stress because they have committed to an institution. Competing in high school with a signed NLI also prevents other schools from recruiting a student-athlete: the equivalent of an NCAA “do not call list.”
Tags: Asheville Citizen Times, athletics, college basketball, Cullowhee, national letter of intent, NCAA, Western Carolina University, womens basketball
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