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.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Mental health concerns among NCAA student-athletes have increased in the past decade. Prior research demonstrates the intense environment student-athletes reside in and the negative impact it can have on one’s mental health. However, little is known about the prevalence of mental health symptoms and the choices student-athletes make in regard to their mental health. We aimed to demonstrate the prevalence of adverse mental health outcomes in this population and the subsequent consequences it can have on collegiate student-athletes. Additionally, we examined how the demographic characteristics and behavior factors can affect their mental health, mental health stigma, and help-seeking behavior. Our sample consisted of 236 student-athletes participating in NCAA institutions across the country, with a target audience of Horizon League competing institutions. We utilized descriptive statistics, linear regression, and ordinal regression to examine the prevalence of each predictor and outcome variable. The following scales were utilized to assess various mental health outcomes: Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Connor-Davison Resilience Scale (CD-RISC2). Data show that a higher cumulative GPA was associated with lower mental distress and significantly more likely to have higher resilience. Additionally, athletes who were injured, were significantly more likely to experience mental distress compared to their non-injured peers. Furthermore, cisgender females reported significantly higher mental distress compared to their cisgender male counterparts. Student-athletes reporting an increase in public stigma revealed lower mental well-being and higher levels of mental distress. These findings indicate that participant characteristics do impact the adverse mental health outcomes student-athletes experience. The public and/or self-stigma one experiences can impact the overall well-being of the individual when it comes to mental health. We recommend that future studies examine how stigma can affect the choices of how student-athletes navigate their personal mental health. Future research should investigate new ways to combat the negative consequences of mental health challenges to improve the overall student-athlete experience.