In his annual state of the NCAA address to unviersity presidents and administrators, NCAA president Mark Emmert lauded his organization’s effort to enact tough legislation to dramatically improve the collegiate sports landscape.
“I am very proud of some of the things we’ve done,” Emmert said to an appreciative audience. “The piece about which we are most proud and the one that received a lot of press over the summer was when we lifted the ban on condiments and spreads for the athletes at team training tables.”
Previously, athletes were forced to eat their bagels or toast without anything on them, which would have been a violation of the NCAA’s rule against athletes receiving treatment beyond what their classmates receive.
“I like to have a bit of butter on my bagel and I somtimes add a dollop of honey,” Emmert continued. “We saw no reason to prevent the athletes from also receiving such a nice treat.”
Emmert was asked about another rule that received less publicity. This one bars coaches of any NCAA team from allowing non-family minors to accompany the team on road trips and recommends that coaches not share a hotel room with unaccompanied minors.
“There was quite a bit of debate about this one,” Emmert said. “For now, this is the policy, but many coaches have asked to revisit this one in the future.”
