As an UVA student-athlete, you need to be mindful of many NCAA, ACC and University of Virginia rules and regulations that could affect you. This purpose of this website is to help you understand the many of these rules and also describe certain procedures you must follow (e.g. SAF, Transfer Procedures).
The NCAA is against all forms of sports betting, both legal and illegal. It has established rules that ban employees of athletic departments, the NCAA national office, and student athletes from gambling on sports events, including intercollegiate, amateur, and professional sports. Sports Wagering NCAA rules prohibit participation in sports wagering activities and from providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition. College athletes wager on sports throughout the country. The NCAA acknowledges this and prohibits their actions. Still, the Athletic Association rarely takes stun action against students caught breaking the rules. The NCAA's harshest penalty for students found gambling is a one-year ban from sports.
The NCAA requires all student-athletes be enrolled in a minimum of 12 (twelve) credit hours in order to practice and compete. The only exception to this rules applies to student-athletes who are in their last semester and need less than 12 (twelve) credit hours to complete their degree. In this situation, a student-athlete's academic dean MUST CERTIFY the student-athlete is enrolled in the appropriate classes to complete their degree and forward this certification to the Registrar's Office. If you are a student-athlete in this postition, please notify your athletics academic coordinator.
NCAA rules prohibit a student-athlete from receiving an 'extra benefit' from an institutional employee or a representative of UVA's athletics interest (i.e. booster).
An extra benefit is any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete's family member or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation. Receipt of a benefit by student-athletes or their relatives or friends is not a violation of NCAA legislation if it is demonstrated that the same benefit is generally available to the institution's students or their relatives or friends or to a particular segment of the student body (e.g., foreign students, minority students) determined on a basis unrelated to athletics ability.
The student-athlete shall not receive any extra benefit. The term 'extra benefit' refers to any special arrangement by an institutional employee or representative of the institution's athletics interests to provide the student-athlete or his or her family members or friends with a benefit not expressly authorized by NCAA legislation.
An institutional employee or representative of the institution's athletics interests may not provide a student-athlete with extra benefits or services, including, but not limited to:
NCAA rules require all student-athletes to be amateurs in the NCAA sport which they participate. If a student-athlete competes as a professional, then he or she will no longer be able to compete as an intercollegiate student-athlete.
An individual loses amateur status and thus shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the individual:
NCAA rules do permit student-athletes to work during their tenure at UVA.
Compensation may be paid to a student-athlete:
Compensation may not be based for value or utility that the student-athlete may have for the employer because of publicity, reputation, fame or personal following that he or she has obtained because of athletics. Further, the employee/employer may not use the student-athletes image, name or picture to promote the student-athletes employment.
All student-athletes and employers must complete the employment form from the link below affirming their understanding of NCAA rules.
Student-athletes with remaining eligibility may engage in the following activities without jeopardizing their eligibility in that sport:
Exception- Men's Basketball Student-Athlete's Only
Effective during the 2018-2019 academic year, the NCAA adopted new legislation that would allow a men's basketball student-athlete to enter the NBA Draft and sign with an agent each year. Please contact Ronnie Wideman, Associate Athletics Director for Men's Basketball or the UVA Compliance Office for details to ensure your NCAA eligibility is not affected.
All Sports except Men's Basketball
All Sports
NCAA rules allow for institutions to provide academic support for student-athletes. NCAA Bylaw 16.3.1.1 outlines the academic support the UVA Department of Athletics may provide to student-athletes.
Member institutions shall make general academic counseling and tutoring services available to all student-athletes. Such counseling and tutoring services may be provided by the department of athletics or the institution's nonathletics student support services. In addition, an institution, conference or the NCAA may finance other academic support, career counseling or personal development services that support the success of student–athletes.
An institution shall be required to conduct a life skills program on its campus.
NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes from participating in gambling activities. If a student-athlete has been found to have participated in gambling activities as outlined in NCAA Bylaw 10.3, a student-athlete will lose their eligibility for at least one year.
The following individuals shall not knowingly participate in sports wagering activities or provide information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition:
The following sanctions for violations of Bylaw 10.3 shall apply as follows:
In light of health, safety and social concerns, the Athletics Department at the University of Virginia has put in place a mandatory Drug and Alcohol Policy to assist and benefit its student-athletes. The student-athlete and his or her parents or legal guardians will receive a copy of the Drug and Alcohol Policy prior to the beginning of practice or competition.
At the beginning of the academic year, a presentation will be made to all student- athletes at the University of Virginia that will outline and review the Intercollegiate Athletics Drug and Alcohol Policy, its purposes, and its plan for implementation. Each student-athlete shall sign a form that acknowledges receipt of the information and an understanding of the program; provides consent for urinalysis testing, and permits the release of substance abuse testing information to a limited, defined group of individuals as described in the substance abuse testing section of this policy. In addition each athletic team shall participate in one substance abuse education program each semester. A program specific to team needs may be substituted for the latter of these programs the spring semester.
As part of the annual health assessment, student-athletes will undergo a urine toxicology screen at the beginning of the academic year. Student-athletes will also be subject to testing, throughout the calendar year for banned or prohibited substances which may include but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
* Any illegal substance
Random selections for substance abuse testing are generated by the Director of Compliance from a random sample table. Random testing may be performed on an individual or team at any time. Due to a reasonable suspicion of substance abuse based on a history of substance abuse, or behavioral changes in a student-athlete, the Coordinator of Drug Testing and Education Programs may require that a student-athlete be tested independent of the random sample. A reasonable suspicion regarding the use of drugs or alcohol abuse may come from a number of sources including but not limited to coaches, the Office of the Dean of Students, the Judiciary Committee, the residence staff, and the community.
Those who test positive at any time may expect screening on a more frequent basis. For the student-athlete's and his/her teammates' safety, every student-athlete who tests positive must be retested negative and be medically cleared for participation in any team function by the designated Medical Director. All members of teams participating in NCAA sanctioned post-season competition or individual team members participating in such competition will be tested prior to that competition.
The student-athlete will be tested periodically to insure that he or she remains substance free. The student-athlete must remain substance free to avoid the imposed sanctions.
If the student-athlete tests positive for a substance other than the disclosed substance, the positive result will be treated in accordance with a positive test.