The NCAA Division I Council concluded its April meetings Friday, where the 40-person collective voted on many different proposals that will affect the future of college athletics.

One of the biggest proposals on the table — NCAA Proposal 2018-34 — was defeated at the meetings. The proposal was set to change the number of countable coaches in college baseball and softball from three to four at the Division I level. The move would have allowed volunteer assistant coaches to become full-time assistant coaches, and had near-universal support from coaches in both sports.

Joanna Lane, the director of education and program development for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, said in a statement to The Daily that the organization looks forward to the next time the proposal will be voted on by the Division I Council.

“Our member coaches are disappointed in the results of the vote regarding the addition of a fourth countable coach,” Lane said. “Ninety-five percent of softball coaches believed this proposal was a necessary step in advancing the game and welcomed the opportunity to have an additional coach with the ability to participate in off-campus recruiting and other countable activities.”

American Baseball Coaches Association executive director Craig Keilitz told The Daily on Friday that the ABCA would release a statement after the voting results were announced. The voting results had not been released as of Monday night but should be published within the week.

While the official results have not been released, it is widely believed by people in the industry that Gary Barta, Iowa’s athletic director and the Big Ten representative at the Council, voted “no.” How Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, who serves as one of the 40 representatives in the Council, voted is unknown.

Southland Conference commissioner Tom Burnett told The Daily he was not surprised by the result of the vote.

“I’ll say this, this issue won’t go away,” Holland said. “It can’t go away. I fully expect it to come back, maybe in some other form. But, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Fifteen proposals were adopted, two were tabled and three defeated by the NCAA Division I Council. The other two proposals that failed to pass were NCAA Proposal 2018-51 and NCAA Proposal 2018-106.

NCAA Proposal 2018-51, which was opposed by five different committees, would have allowed recruits and athletic department staff members to eat together within a 30-mile radius of campus and not count as an off-campus visit.

NCAA Proposal 2018-106 would have made the scholarships of graduate transfers in basketball and football count against their school’s scholarship number for a second year if they did not complete degree requirements.

The Big Ten proposed only one amendment — NCAA Proposal 2018-81 — which was adopted. The proposal changed the start of golf practices and competitions. Before, teams could not practice or compete before the first day of classes or Sept. 7, whichever came first. Now, that deadline is Sept. 1 or five days before the start of classes.

Two other successful amendments regarding transfers were NCAA Proposal 2018-103 and NCAA Proposal 2018-104. The former says non-recruited walk-ons can transfer and play immediately and walk-ons that did not receive scholarship money can also transfer and play right away. The latter allows incoming freshmen to transfer and play immediately if the head coach of the program leaves before the first day of classes, even if the athlete was enrolled in summer school.

“It’s definitely a win in our books,” said Enna Selmanovic, Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee vice chair, in a statement about the two proposals. “(Allowing student-athletes in certain situations to transfer and play immediately) provides student-athletes with more opportunities to have the best experience possible within their collegiate career.”

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Twitter: @thepeterwarren

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