Rich Paul Rule Officially Eliminated as NCAA Caves to Pressure

Rich Paul 1, LeBron James 1 million, NCAA 0.

Ball don’t lie.

Less than a week after the NCAA sent a misguided memo to NBA agents describing new rules for agents to represent NCAA student-athletes wishing to test the NBA Draft waters, chief among them a rule that made it illegal to represent said basketball players without a college bachelor’s degree, the NCAA has caved. It amended the rule and now a bachelor’s degree isn’t required to represent players considering entering the draft.

This is the moment when LeBron and Paul would yell “SCOREBOARD!” at the NCAA fans if they were in an arena watching a game against each other.

That’s big news for Paul, who doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree, but is among the top agents in the NBA. He published an op-ed in The Athletic calling out the NCAA for these rules, but now can represent any prospective draft prospects without testing the institution. It’s also big for Klutch Sports agency, which Paul heads and LeBron is a client of.

Shortly after the NCAA announced the bachelor’s degree rule, dubbed the “Rich Paul Rule” by those in the industry because Paul was one of the only big agents it impacted, LeBron (and other athletes) ripped the decision on social media and came to Paul’s side (no surprise given he and LeBron have been best friends since high school). Media members, including yours truly, likewise ripped the rule, pointing out how shortsighted it was in the grand scheme of what matters most to these student-athletes: getting great advice on whether they should enter the NBA Draft or not.

Well, it seems sense has prevailed (shocking the NCAA listened to reason) and Paul will be allowed to represent prospects wishing to test their draft status.

That’s a small win for Paul and LeBron, but a big L for the NCAA, which must be used to it at this point.