rec.sport.basketball.college

On Aug 16, 9:10 pm, Don Del Grande
wrote:

> I wasn't aware that they could - NCAA bylaw (which deals with
> agents) seems to apply to all sports.
>
> Is it possible that Mike Maulini wasn't "officially" their agent, but
> was just acting on their behalf (without permission) in the hopes of
> signing them?

It's "fuzzy", and probably would be more scrutinized for basketball or
football, but as long as no money has changed hands and no signature
promises future money, a player can have all the "advisors" he or she
wants. The NCAA can't legislate the private conversations a citizen
has any more than the US Government can (oh, wait....)

Personally, I find the practice somewhat slimey, but as long as the
"advisor" negotiates with MLB in a "suppose I were representing player
X, what would you tell me?" way and player X has not HIRED the
"advisor" to be their agent it's all legit.

The examples that have come to light in basketball and football tend
to involve agents paying players to sign up with them before they
should. What's weird about baseball is that a player can have such an
"advisor" a year before they even find out whether they'd pass a
college entrance exam....