NCAA approves unlimited meals and snacks for players

Who said the NCAA can’t respond in a timely fashion when it is under savage daily attack and facing several lawsuits that could put college’s governing body out of business?

Only days after Connecticut basketball star Shabazz Napier complained that he sometimes went to bed hungry, an NCAA Legislative Council on Tuesday approved a rule that will provide unlimited meals and snacks to “student-athletes.”

This even applies to walk-on players. The NCAA provision is in addition to the meal plan already provided to scholarship athletes. In the past, players received three meals a day or a food stipend.

“Today we took action to provide meals to student-athletes incidental to participation,” said Mary Mulvenna, America East Conference associate commissioner. “I think the end result is right where it needs to be.”

Of course, nothing just gets rubber-stamped in the NCAA. The rule still must be approved by the Division 1 Board of Directors when they meet April 24.

The Council also voted to:

-- Require strength and conditioning coaches to be certified from a nationally accredited certification body.

-- Reduce the penalty for a first positive test for street drugs during championships.

-- Require football players to rest for at least three hours between practices during the preseason.