Impact of the House v. NCAA Ruling for College Golf

By Rich Brazeau, College Golf Guide - AJGA College Golf Advisor

Updated February 2025

The proposed House v. NCAA settlement represents a huge change in how the NCAA conducts
business. The settlement, pending final approval, introduces a revenue-sharing model allowing
institutions to compensate student-athletes directly. This model permits schools to distribute up
to 22% of their average annual revenue to athletes, which is estimated to be around $22 million
per institution in the initial year. As a result of the revenue sharing, they are proposing a few
significant changes to ensure financial stability moving forward.

One of the main ways they propose to do this is by HARD-CAPPING the number of
players each sport can carry on their roster. The proposed roster limit for golf is 9, but
several conferences have indicated to their coaches they will cap golf at 8 roster spots.
This will continue to be monitored, but most coaches seem to believe they will be dealing with 8
players moving forward.

They have also proposed that schools would be able to offer a full-scholarship allotment to the
corresponding amount of players, so golf programs would be allowed to have 9 players and
allowed to offer 9 full scholarships, similar to what they currently offer for football and
basketball. However, it is HIGHLY unlikely that many schools will give golf programs their
full allotment. Schools getting the full allotment will likely be in the Power 4 conferences and
select mid-majors that have a strong golfing history. In many cases, schools will continue with
their current scholarship allotment with nominal increases.

Additionally, there will be conferences that DO NOT ‘opt-in’ to the revenue sharing and
thus would not be bound by the roster limitation. They would have to continue to abide by
the current scholarship limitations (4.5 for Men, 6 for Women), if they offer athletic scholarships.
It will be important to track which conferences opt-in or out-out as there could be opportunities available.

It is important to note that this was not a decision made by coaches. This impacts them in a myriad of ways, and they are having to navigate on the fly. If you are a 2025 or 2026 player, please give these coaches some grace and time to figure out how this is all going to work. Additionally, many of these coaches are having heart-breaking conversations with current players or committed recruits letting them know they no longer can be part of the program. It’s a very tough situation for all involved but particularly for the coaches having to implement these limits they did not plan for or want.

• It will clearly become more competitive to play Division 1 College Golf:
  
  • It’s expected to reduce the amount of roster spots by about 10%
• The trickle-down will be real! A couple examples likely to play out:
  
  • A surplus of current college players at top 25 or 50 programs wind up at schools ranked 100-150 or below.
  • High School recruits that would traditionally be no-doubt Division 1 players may wind up playing at a lower level D1 or in many cases start in D2 or D3.
• It will likely lead to more parity within college golf:
  
  • Top programs will not have the ability to stow away top players and wait for them to develop. They will have to adhere to the rules.
• It will become more cutthroat in many programs:
  
  • With only 8 players on a roster and 5 playing in tournaments, there will not be as much depth and coaches will have to make decisions based on performance in a way that we have not seen in college athletics.
• It is likely that the transfer portal will explode even more than it already has:
  
  • This summer will see an increase as teams need to be compliant by fall of 2025.
  • Moving forward, it will become in many ways like professional sports whereby if you are not helping the team win, your roster spot will be in jeopardy meaning the cycle of players in the portal will continue to be high.
    

• Stay Updated:
  
  • Monitor developments in the ruling closely. Understanding how conferences and individual programs are responding to these changes is critical.
• Expand Your Search:
  
  • EVERY player will have to have larger school lists and be more open-minded as this gets sorted out.
• Communicate Proactively:
  
  • Maintain open lines of communication with coaches to understand their plans for scholarships, rosters, and whether they will opt into the revenue-sharing model.
• Flexibility is Key:
  
  • Be prepared to adjust your recruiting strategy if new opportunities arise in other divisions or programs.
• Focus on Development:
  
  • Continue to develop your game and maintain strong academic performance to remain an attractive recruit, regardless of division or program type.

In summary, this remains a fluid situation (as of February 2025) and there should be more specific guidance when the settlement is decided in April 2025. In the meantime, stay tuned and feel free to reach out to any of the AJGA College Golf Advisors for insight into your recruiting journey - we are all here to help!