INDIANAPOLIS — New policies in the National Letter of Intent Program will eliminate athletes having to sit out a full season of competition for not complying with NLI rules under some circumstances.
The binding agreement between athletes and schools has been part of recruiting since 1964. The Collegiate Commissioners Association no longer will penalize athletes who renege because of a head coaching change or for leaving his or her original school after one quarter or one semester. A release must be requested in both instances.
The CCA also is allowing athletes who transfer to another four-year school to sign NLIs.
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU's Jay Johnson became the first baseball coach to win a national championship before his third year at a school.
His Tigers won a three-game College World Series finals against Florida to give the program its seventh title and first since 2009. Johnson was at Arizona when the LSU opportunity presented itself. He said the chance to coach Dylan Crews convinced him it was the right job.
Crews was part of a returning core of players. Johnson added two of the top players in the transfer portal in pitcher Paul Skenes and third baseman Tommy White.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — New Alabama baseball coach Rob Vaughn is set to make at least $900,000 annually under his five-year deal. The University of Alabama trustees compensation committee approved the new deal for Vaughn, along with contracts for other coaches and administrators.
The former Maryland coach replaced Brad Bohannon, who was fired in May after a report of suspicious bets involving his team. The school said he violated “the standards, duties and responsibilities expected of university employees.”
