Basketball Contest Ineligible to Win Rules
Basketball Contest Ineligible to Win Rules
203-831-0600
203-831-0642
203-831-0642
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Basketball Contest Ineligible to Win Rules |
203-831-0600
203-831-0642
|
$20,000 Half-court Shot Winner has to Give Up Prize Money Because He’s A College Athlete
Cameron Rodriguez
won $20,000 for making a half-court shot during an Oklahoma City
Thunder game.
But he might not be able to keep the money because he
is a basketball player at Southwestern College, a NAIA school in
Winfield, Kan.
Read
more here:
https://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/26/4651910/20000-half-court-shot-winner-might.html#storylink=cpy
According to Bloomberg News, Rodriguez and his school are asking the NAIA, which is based in Kansas City, for a rules exception that would
allow him to use the money as a scholarship to help pay his tuition. I didn’t really think about it at first because I was way too excited,”
Rodriguez, 23, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. “After things settled down, I realized we might have an issue because I was receiving a
large amount of money.” The NAIA student guide says athletes cannot use their sports ability or fame for financial reward. John Leavens, the
executive director of the NAIA Eligibility Center, told Bloomberg that rulings on these cases typically take one to two weeks. “It would
certainly hurt his cause if he had tried to circumvent the rules,” Leavens said in a telephone interview. “The fact that he connected with
the right officials to make sure that he understood the proper application of the rule is something that we expect, and we’re glad to see.”
Ed Loeb, a Southwestern math professor and faculty athlete representative, told Bloomberg that Rodriguez would have lost eligibility for at least
a full academic year had he pocketed the money but that there would have been no conflict if Rodriguez won the money in a non- basketball promotion,
such as a long golf putt. NCAA regulations also say athletes are ineligible if they use their skills in their particular sport for pay. The bylaws
make an exception for prizes from promotions where contestants are chosen at random, as Rodriguez was, NCAA spokeswoman Emily James told Bloomberg
in an email.Rodriguez told Bloomberg he has a $4,000 athletic scholarship but pays roughly $33,000 per year for room, board, books and other fees.
If the NAIA says he can’t use the money as a scholarship, Rodriguez said, MidFirst Bank, the sponsor of the Thunder promotion, offered to donate it
to a charity in his name. Rodriguez said he probably would choose between a non-profit set up to help the Southwestern basketball program, or a group
through the Thunder’s work with local children — “a thank you for the opportunity and the experience,” he said.Rodriguez, 6-foot-6, 210-pound sophomore
from Elk City, Okla., hadn’t tried a half-court shot since high school before he won the contest.Shooting clutch free throws at the end of a game is
hard to beat, but that’s the first time I’ve ever had almost 20,000 sets of eyes on me,” Rodriguez told Bloomberg. “In an NBA arena, it’s something else.”