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The question of the legitimacy of foreign players participating in college basketball is a hot topic of debate. The case of Russian basketball player Yegor Demin, who is seen as a possible lottery pick in the NBA draft, and his Serbian compatriot Mihailo Boscovich has once again highlighted inconsistencies in NCAA rules. These young people, despite their young age, already face the threat of losing their status as student-athletes due to questions about their past, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
At the age of 15, Demin signed a contract with Real Madrid and Boskovic recently registered with a professional club in Bosnia. At first glance, it seems like a natural need to play at the highest level. However, the NCAA, with its strict regulations, intervened to find out if they had crossed the fine line between amateur and professional status. The question is whether their contracts were limited to “real and necessary expenses” or whether they received more, which would have disqualified them from participating in college sports.
The NCAA is famous for its eccentric penalty lottery. Some players are banned from playing for an entire season, while others are allowed to return after missing several games. It is no wonder that students and universities are often confused: how to act to avoid unpredictable decisions?
Egor Demin as part of Brigham Young University
Photo: Universo.byu.edu
Demin is not just a promising Russian basketball player. It is a symbol of sports globalization in our country. For many young European players, club contracts become the only ticket to the big basketball arena. As in the case of Demin, signing a contract does not necessarily mean receiving large fees for his talent. Clubs can cover lodging, food and transportation costs. Common practice. However, once you get past the “necessary expenses,” you automatically become a professional in the eyes of the NCAA.
Where is the fine line between fair compensation and blatant violation? In the era of NIL (name, image and likeness), when college stars can earn millions from endorsements and film appearances, the myth of “the purity of amateur sports” is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Athletes are not paid for their performance on the field, but for how their image is sold off it. But once you sign with a professional team that pays the rent, the NCAA gets nervous.
It’s ironic that players like Demin and Boscovich are forced to seek development opportunities at the highest level in their home countries, which lack structures similar to U.S. amateur programs. They turn to professional clubs because there is simply no other alternative. At the same time, American schoolchildren are quietly earning six-figure sums on NIL contracts while remaining “amateurs.” Is it fair to punish one for participating in a professional club when another receives million-dollar bonuses from sponsors? Perhaps LeBron James’ son Bronny would respond, “I don’t care about your problems.”
Egor Demin as part of Brigham Young University
Photo: Universo.byu.edu
Fun fact: The NCAA rarely makes final decisions quickly. It is a bureaucratic machine that can deliberate for months, leaving players and teams in uncertainty. In some cases, the NCAA allows players to redeem themselves by donating excess funds to charity. In others, it disqualifies them from participating for a year. The lack of a clear system of punishment is, to put it mildly, annoying for everyone involved.
If the NCAA concludes that Demin and Boskovich violated the rules, the consequences could be serious not only for the players themselves, but also for BYU, whose reputation has been on the rise in recent years. The program has faced similar challenges before, and losing two key recruits before the season could seriously hurt its chances of success.
However, there is another aspect. NCAA decisions are influenced by many factors and are not always based on strict regulations. The player’s awareness of the consequences of his actions, his intentions when signing a contract and even the circumstances in which he finds himself can mitigate the sentence. If Demin, at the age of 15, did not understand all the intricacies of the contract, this could play into his hands.
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