Most D-I reps at NCAA convention say only minor changes needed to proposed new constitution, per straw poll

During an NCAA special convention held Monday to discuss major changes to the way the association governs college sports, a large majority of Division I members present said a proposed new NCAA constitution needed only minor changes to earn their support.

Roughly 2,500 representatives from schools and conferences attended Monday’s virtual meeting to learn about the proposed changes and provide feedback. In an unofficial straw poll conducted by the NCAA among Division I representatives, 85% said they would support the changes after minor revisions, while 10.5% said it would need major revisions, and the remaining 4% said they supported the constitution in its current form.

The proposal to change their constitution, which follows in the wake of significant legal and political losses for the NCAA this past summer, was designed to try to simplify what college sports leaders have called a complex and outdated rulebook by taking significant authority away from the NCAA’s national offices and giving those responsibilities to its separate divisions, conferences and member schools. In the new proposed model each division would be responsible for setting its own rules for things like enforcement processes and regulations on how athletes can make money through third-party endorsements.

Changing the constitution is the first step in a two-step process. If it’s formally adopted with a vote in January, each of the NCAA’s three divisions will be responsible for rewriting their rules to fit the new framework. NCAA president Mark Emmert called Monday’s meeting an unprecedented step by the organization and called the new constitution “scaffolding for rebuilding the NCAA in a new and exciting fashion for the 21st century.”

“I think we…