INDIANAPOLIS — NCAA President Charlie Baker is under no illusions that a recent move from the White House will solve every one of the myriad problems facing his membership.
Baker is hopeful, though, that the executive order signed by President Trump on Friday can act as what it was perhaps intended to be from the beginning: A firm hand in the back of Congress to find a reasonable solution to those problems through legislative action.
If the order does that, it will have managed what nothing else has, in beginning to ease the turmoil plaguing college sports through the last half-decade. Which makes that outcome possible, but difficult to imagine.
“I think part of the message from him,” Baker, referring to President Trump, said, “is, can we find a way to push this a little harder through the legislative process, and get something on the books that represents what most people are looking for at this point? Which is a much simpler eligibility process.”
Eligibility sat at the center of the executive order signed Friday. It sets a range of parameters on that issue — from barring professionals from returning to college, to setting athletes’ eligibility window at five years, to limiting those athletes to one penalty free transfer in their careers.
There are other concerns discussed in a directive many, including those within the executive branch itself, expect to be challenged legally. The order directs the NCAA, per a report from Yahoo! Sports, to “update its rules” accordingly by Aug. 1, which at least allows runway for any potential changes and does not immediately affect college sports’ day-to-day operation.
Baker acknowledged the difficulties associated with some aspects of the order. Not least the directive to bring the association’s rules in line, understandable in theory but difficult in practice when the NCAA is already facing varied challenges to its eligibility rules in the courts.
Still, the NCAA’s fourth-year leader expressed optimism at the potential for President Trump’s order to shake loose enough congressional action to make meaningful progress toward national legislation.
“There are a number of Democrats who said what I would describe as some reasonably positive things about some key elements of it,” Baker said, adding with a smile, “not a lot of people say nice things about much of anything” at the legislative level right now.
“That’s helpful,” he said.
What Baker will want it to help specifically is the SCORE Act, legislation introduced in July and still working its way through the House.
Widely supported by NCAA membership, the SCORE Act would carve out a limited antitrust exemption for the association while creating federal standards around issues including name, image and likeness. Both the Big Ten Conference and Indiana University individually endorsed Friday’s executive order as a means of driving the legislative process forward around the SCORE Act specifically.
It has drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum, including concerns over everything from athletes’ rights, long-term financial concerns, congressional overreach and more.
Struggling for the required votes in the House, the SCORE Act would almost certainly face an even steeper road in the Senate, where legislators have introduced bipartisan bills on the issue as well.
Whether the President’s executive order can trigger meaningful progress in a process currently struggling for it remains to be seen. Baker’s hopeful comments might not amount to much more than that — hope.
For his membership, it at least represents fresh support for movement in a stalled process, as the NCAA continues to search for better legal and regulatory footing. If it does shake the trees to the point that something finally falls out, it will have accomplished progress nothing and no one else has to this point. Which is another way of saying: Believe it when you see it.
Zach Osterman is IndyStar’s IU insider. Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Trump executive order signals hope for NCAA president Charlie Baker