THE UAAP board has decided not to impose much-needed rules changes related to recruitment this season, saying the league needs more time to study the recommendations of its amendments committee.
UAAP president Nilo Ocampo said the board failed to get a unanimous nod on the committee's recommendations on rules changes that are aimed at discouraging player poaching in the country's premier collegiate league.
Among the proposals tackled during Wednesday's board meeting were changes to the rules on the residency period for high school and college transferees, as well as the imposition of recruiting and transferring policies for high school players.
“Wala kaming decision on the recommendations,” said Ocampo. “’Yung ibang board members thinks that we still have to study (the proposals) further.”
Asked when the proposed changes can be adopted, Ocampo said: "Definitely, not this year.”
The rules changes were aimed at lessening conflict among schools over transferees, which came to a head last season with the news of Far Eastern University juniors star Jerie Pingoy's imminent transfer to Ateneo.
FEU, however, insisted the the two-time UAAP juniors MVP had already made a commitment to play for the Tamaraws through a signed document.
However, there are currently no rules about documents that would bind a player to a team or school.
A few members of the board had mulled on imposing a ‘letter of intent’ rule similar to the US NCAA to make such agreements binding.
Under such a rule, a recruit is asked to sign a ‘contract’ to formalize his commitment to play for a school.
According to US NCAA rules, no school is allowed to contact a prospective recruit once he signs a letter of intent with another school. It also binds the student-athlete to a school for at least one academic year.
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