Add the U.S. Senate to the parties attacking the NCAA as the Tennessee attorney general and University of Tennessee wage battles against the association on multiple fronts.
On Tuesday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, reintroduced the NCAA Accountability Act to establish due process protections for college athletes, coaches and universities that are under investigation by the NCAA for rules violations.
If the bill had already been law, it would’ve shortened and minimized the NCAA’s ongoing investigation into allegations that UT broke rules involving name, image and likeness benefits for athletes.
The Accountability Act seeks to speed up NCAA investigations.
The bill would require the NCAA to give a school a notice of inquiry within 60 days of receiving information that a violation may have occurred and complete an investigation within one year of giving the school that notice of inquiry.
Also, there would be a two-year statute of limitations for NCAA rules violations, meaning the NCAA could not investigate alleged violations that occurred more than two years before a notice of inquiry was provided to a school.