The president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Charlie Baker, spoke to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors at their meeting Tuesday.
Baker spoke about the uncertainty of college sports, particularly over name, image and likeness rights for athletes, and rules for how often athletes can transfer to other schools.
Some states have sued the NCAA to change some of these rules. A bipartisan bill passed the Senate this year to set a national standard for collegiate sports, particularly NIL rights, and Baker said he thinks there is potential for it to pass the house in the next year or two.
“And I fully expect that the protect college sports act will be in that conversation,” Baker said. “One way or the other. I don’t know how it will play out but we’ll see.”
The uncertain landscape over college sports came up in remarks by outgoing Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands.
“I wish that I could say that we have fulfilled our potential, and that the environment is now predictable and settled. That is clearly not yet the case,” Sands said. “But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time in the breech, and I really want to thank the board for their role in getting us into a position where we will have a choice when the next fork in the road hits.”
Sands was referring, in part, to the board last year approving a substantial increase of funding to university athletics.
This was Sands last board meeting as president. Richard Linton will take the reins as the new president in January.
