Recruiting talented student-athletes is integral to the success of an athletics program. Yet, some universities and individuals therein have been willing to violate National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recruiting regulations to lure talented athletes to play at their institution. Institutional and isomorphic pressures of discouraging unethical recruiting behavior and practice rely heavily upon the rationalization and institutionalizing of social phenomena through written policy in NCAA Bylaw 13. These policies may be identified as cartel agreements, where a group creates rules to control actions that assure economic profit. Although recruiting top talent may lead to increased victories and revenues, most NCAA athletic departments do not make a profit and being sanctioned for violating NCAA recruiting rules may lead to damaged institutional reputation. In response, universities have invested resources to protect institutional prestige through a comprehensive NCAA rules compliance program. Nevertheless, undisclosed recruiting violations transpire because there are financial incentives to violate NCAA rules. Three separate works were utilized to examine the economic, institutional, and individual factors of NCAA institutional control. First, institutional factors of reported NCAA recruiting violations were analyzed through a series of chi-square tests. Correlative institutional factors were found in particular types of Bylaw 13 violations including conference affiliation, geographic region, sports involved in a major infraction, and size of full-time athletic compliance staff when the violation occurred. Second, hierarchical loglinear regression was used to analyze the results from a survey of 7,200 current student-athletes regarding undisclosed recruiting violations. Various violation types of Bylaw 13 correlatively involved institutions from Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conferences, based on geographic regions, revenue sports, and individual factors of race, sex, and income level. Third, a qualitative instrumental case study examined the economic, administrative, and individual relationships regarding NCAA institutional control of athletics recruiting at a perceivably compliant Division I (FBS), BCS conference-affiliated institution. Findings from this study suggested that the systemic pressure to win championships and maintain institutional control become difficult to balance with the added pressure of high stakes recruiting that can influence the financial stability of an athletic department. The conclusion of this work will assess systemic alternatives regarding NCAA recruiting violations and propose legal remedies to curtail future recruiting violations.

Given high rates of sexual violence on college campuses, prior research has identified bystander training as a promising prevention strategy. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has called upon athletic departments and student-athletes to be campus leaders in sexual violence prevention. There is a lack of research on optimal ways to engage coaches and student-athletes in sustainable sexual violence bystander prevention efforts. This study examines the efficacy of an innovative bystander prevention program in which coaches were co-facilitators. Student-athletes and coaches from one Division I university were randomized to either receive the bystander prevention program from a facilitator and their coach with their team or from two facilitators with other same-sex teams. Student-athletes completed measures prior to training and at least two months following the training. Data from student-athletes was analyzed using MANOVA, and data from coaches was analyzed using paired sample t-tests. Student-athletes (n= 133) and coaches (n= 5) completed pre- and post-intervention assessments, which measured knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to sexual violence. Results demonstrated that the student-athletes’ knowledge, attitude, and behaviors did not differ at follow-up depending on delivery method. Regardless of delivery method, there were no significant differences in student-athletes' knowledge, attitude, and behaviors from pre- to post-intervention. The small sample of coaches demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge from pre- to post-intervention. Results support previous findings that one-time interventions have not been found to lead to changes in attitudes and behaviors. The lack of differences between the groups suggests that utilizing coaches as co-facilitators of bystander prevention programs may be a promising strategy.

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Many rating systems exist that order the Division I teams in Men's College Basketball that compete in the NCAA Tournament, such as seeding teams on an S-curve, and the Pomeroy and Sagarin ratings, simplifying the process of choosing winners to a comparison of two numbers. Rather than creating a rating system, we analyze each matchup by using the difference between the teams' individual regular season statistics as the independent variables. We use an MCMC approach and logistic regression along with several model selection techniques to arrive at models for predicting the winner of each game. When given the 63 actual games in the 2012 tournament, eight of our models performed as well as Pomeroy's rating system and four did as well as Sagarin's rating system when given the 63 actual games. Not allowing the models to fix their mistakes resulted in only one model outperforming both Pomeroy and Sagarin's systems. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Computational Mathematics / MS / Thesis

JEFFREY LAMOND JONES, for the Master's degree of Science in Recreation, presented on April 6, 2009, at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. TITLE: Attitudes of Division I Athletes Concerning Their Collegiate Environment Major Professor: Dr. Regina Glover The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitudes of Division I student athletes concerning their university, coaches and athletic administrators, environment, and individual actions. The study consisted of student athletes from a Division I University during the Fall 2008 semester, a total of 117 questionnaires were distributed and 86 were returned. Sampling theses student athletes provided a diverse sample which included student athletes from different sports, ethnic background, gender, class rank, financial scholarship status, credit hours and weather study hall was mandatory. Surveys were placed with the Athletic department study table monitor who distributed the surveys from December 1 through December 12 to individual student athletes as they arrive to check-in from 8:00 am - 9:30 pm for study hall hours. A total of 117 questionnaires were distributed and 86 were returned. Of the 86 student athletes, 48(54.7%) were males and 38(45.3%) were females. This study included 34 (19.8%) freshmen, 17 (39.5%) sophomores, 15 (17.4%) juniors, and 20 (23.3%) seniors. The survey format and the 28 questions were based upon a panel of experts who were interviewed and participated in a pilot study to determine the number of items on the survey. A five point Likert-type scale was used to measure the perceived level of agreement in each of the areas. Descriptive statistics of frequency and percent were used for demographics to describe the sample overall mean which was computed for the 28 statements as well as individual mean. The results showed that only a small amount student athletes had a difference in attitudes in regards to the survey questions. The lowest mean score for any question on the questionnaire was 1.54. The highest mean score for any questions on the questionnaire was 4.25. Out of the 7 variables in which the study was based upon, student athletes indicated a difference in attitudes based upon weather study table hours were mandatory. There were no significant difference found between attitudes and year in school, sport, ethnicity, gender, financial scholarship, or credit hours. The study revealed that student athletes were more likely to have a difference in their attitudes based upon their study hall status, meaning student athletes with mandatory study hall will more likely have a different attitude than student athletes who are not required to attend study hall.

This paper explores the value of attending college to Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball players in terms of future success in the NBA. Future success is measured by both salary and minutes played per game. A dataset of 660 athletes from the 2006 through 2016 drafts was collected from Basketball-Reference. An empirical model is estimated using this data in order to identify the determinant factors in a player’s success in the NBA. It is found that college is not a determinant of success in the NBA.

Thesis advisor: Alan Rogers / The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has a long history of interacting with the United States government, including Congress and the courts. Its relationship with each has helped shaped the present state of the association. This thesis attempts to expose the laissez-fair attitude that the government has taken with the NCAA and the effects of this attitude. It will cover a spectrum of problems that have troubled the NCAA since the 1960s, including conflict with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), disciplinary procedure, education for student-athletes, title IX enforcement, diversity in college sports, a college football playoff, and various other complaints regarding intercollegiate athletics. Each of these issues appeared before Congress and the court system on many occasions and the usual approach taken was trust toward the NCAA. This trust has led to a lack of change or reform on the part of the NCAA. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: History.

Objective: In this dissertation the differences between NCAA athletes and other college students who participate in sports at various levels (i.e., club sports and intramural) were examined. The effects of different types of academic socialization received and the primary source of these messages on grade point average and professional sport expectations were also studied. The weekly hours spent on school and sports during the season and offseason were tested as potential mediators of the relationship between professional sport expectations and grade point average. Method: The sample consisted of 448 college students (NCAA = 122, Club = 104, Intramural = 119, No Sport = 103) ranging from age 18-25. Participants self-reported GPA, professional sport expectations, athletic identity, weekly time spent on school/sports during the season/offseason, academic attainment aspirations/expectations, academic involvement, educational encouragement, the value of education, and most influential socializer of academic messages. Results: NCAA athletes reported greater academic involvement by others, but had lower GPAs than the other students. They also reported academic counselors/mentors and parents/family as their two primary socializers, while students from the other groups indicated parents/family as their only primary source of socialization, as they relied on themselves second most. Also, weekly time spent on sports during the offseason was found to significantly mediate the negative relationship between professional sport expectations and grade point average. Conclusions: The academic experience of NCAA athletes is different from all other students on campus. Collaborating with others on campus to help athletes explore other avenues for future success can lead to less emphasis on playing a professional sport and more academic success. This would be beneficial considering so few NCAA athletes end up having successful pro sport careers. / text

This dissertation examines ESPN's SportsCenter's coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament bubble. The dissertation examines the differences in coverage between average teams from the six major NCAA Division I men's basketball conferences and teams from the other 25 conferences. The dissertation examines SportsCenter's coverage from an effects method, questioning whether SportsCenter sets the agenda for other news media in terms of national sports coverage, in this case coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament bubble. The dissertation also takes an effects method in terms of framing, examining the narratives SportsCenter uses to describe tournament teams and the attributes that SportsCenter chooses to use depending on the conference affiliation of the team. Finally, the dissertation examines SportsCenter's coverage in terms of political economy, concentrating on ESPN's financial ties to the six major conferences and the importance of maintaining a status quo in terms of promoting the superiority of teams from the six conferences compared to teams from the other conferences. Combining the three approaches provides evidence that SportsCenter does tilt its coverage in favor of teams from the six major conferences in order to promote its financial priorities. SportsCenter works to emphasize a perception of superiority among average teams from the six major conferences in order to ensure that its top teams are easily and often exposed to ESPN's coverage and to maintain consistent ratings.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has controlled intercollegiate sports for the past 150 years, but the passing of California Senate Bill 206 on September 30, 2019, placed that power at risk. The bill will allow student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness in the state of California, and has influenced other states to bring forth legislation of their own. The NCAA announced on October 29, 2019, that it would change its policies and bylaws to allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. This qualitative thematic analysis seeks to discover how the issue of student-athletes in the case of SB 206 was framed by the media before and after the bill was passed, and after the NCAA announced its policy change. From the analysis, three themes emerged to support student-athlete compensation, eight themes emerged in opposition, and 24 sub themes emerged for both sides. Anti-compensation framing strategies prevailed throughout news coverage before and after SB 206 passed, and after the NCAA changed its policy. Local and mainstream news outlets and sports and mainstream news outlets all presented the eight themes. / Master of Arts / The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has controlled college sports for the past 150 years, but the passing of California Senate Bill 206 on September 30, 2019, placed that power at risk. The bill will allow student-athletes to receive compensation for their name, image and likeness in the state of California, and has influenced other states to bring forth legislation of their own. On October 29, 2019 the NCAA announced that it would change its policies and bylaws to allow student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. This thesis uses a qualitative thematic analysis, meaning that news articles are examined by the researcher to understand common themes that emerge about how the issue of student-athlete in the case of SB 206 was portrayed by the media before and after the bill was passed, and after the NCAA changed its policy. From the analysis, three themes were found to support student-athlete compensation, eight themes were found in opposition, and 24 sub themes were found for both sides. Anti-compensation framing strategies dominated news coverage before and after SB 206 passed, and after the NCAA changed its policy even though the public opinion supported student-athlete compensation.