INDIANAPOLIS – Auburn’s Helen Ulrich and Bill Taylor will each receive a $10,000 Jim McKay Scholarship, awarded by the NCAA to college athletes who demonstrate achievement in sports communication or public relations or hope to contribute to the field.

Ulrich, who competed in equestrian at Auburn, graduated with a degree in journalism this spring. Taylor, the long snapper for the Auburn football team, graduated with a degree in agricultural communications in December.

The McKay Scholarship recognizes a student-athlete’s outstanding academic achievements and potential to make major contributions to the sports communications industry. The scholarship was created in 2008 to honor pioneer sports journalist Jim McKay, and the recipients are selected by the NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee.

Helen Ulrich

Ulrich has posted a 3.80 GPA during her undergraduate studies and was named to the Southeastern Conference academic honor roll from 2018 to 2021.  She also earned academic honor roll honors from the National Collegiate Equestrian Association from 2019 to 2021. She helped Auburn win three consecutive conference championship and two national championships.

Ulrich has decided to return to Auburn for a fifth season of competition, which was a blanket waiver option for student-athletes after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled competition in March 2020.

In her application essay, Ulrich listed her short-term goals:

• Leverage her academic and athletic success to provide the necessary financial and academic resources to help her secure a master’s in sports communications. She will begin work on her master’s degree at Auburn.
• Gain a greater understanding of how the communications field can impact brand metrics, engage media and social media influencers and clearly deliver important messages in a multimedia-driven world.
• Further her understanding and insights of corporate communications by securing internships with Fortune 500 companies and top public relations firms while pursuing her master’s degree.

Her long-term goal is to pursue a career in the public relations field with a company or companies that recognize and reward individuals who consistently improve their skills while leveraging their talent to make a meaningful and measurable impact on their business.

Ulrich, who grew up in Mooresville, North Carolina, wrote in her application essay that she learned the value of connecting with others early in life.

“I learned that if I was going to succeed at highest levels both academically and athletically, hard work was essential. But my ability to clearly communicate with my coaches, teachers, teammates and family would help me simplify complex challenges and achieve my goals.”

Bill Taylor

Taylor, Auburn’s long snapper the past three seasons, posted a 3.59 GPA while earning his undergraduate degree. He earned SEC academic honor roll honors from 2017 to 2019.

Taylor also was a member of his campus and SEC Student-Athlete Advisory Committees during his time at Auburn.

Taylor, who is from Northport, Alabama, plans to pursue a master’s degree in agricultural leadership.

During his youth, Taylor spent time on his father’s catfish farm. It led to his passion for working in agricultural communications. In his application essay, Taylor said he composed an analysis comparing conventional and organic agriculture. He attended the Alabama Agriculture Expedition trip during spring break of 2020 to visit farms and hear concerns from farmers throughout the state.

Last summer, Taylor interned at the Alabama Farmers Federation in the governmental and agricultural programs department to learn more about agriculture policy and communication initiatives.

Taylor’s long-term goal is to work in agricultural lobbying or for a government agency involved in agriculture.

He hopes to bridge any knowledge gaps for those outside and within the agricultural community.

In his application essay, Taylor wrote, “I hope my work will contribute to sustainable food systems through analyzing ways in which the agriculture industry could improve its public image by utilizing more communication channels. I want to refine my knowledge of our food system and gain experience in solving current issues that require diligence and teamwork.”

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After announcing the latest round of five institutions approved for membership, including one NCAA school, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has added a second membership cycle to attract additional NCAA prospects.

Among the new members to join in 2020-21, Oakland City University from Oakland City, Ind., became the sixth NCAA institution in recent years to return to the NAIA. The association is also in active membership discussions with nearly a dozen other NCAA members and inquiries are increasing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The NAIA offers the opportunity for institutions to be nationally competitive, while also reducing athletics expenditures,” said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. “We also focus on the specific priorities of our member institutions through our Return on Athletics® (ROA) effort, providing our members analytics tools to drive enrollment, increase student success, and improve financial stability through athletics.”

The new application cycle will allow institutions more time to prepare for the NCAA to NAIA transition, as well as the additional visibility for coaches to recruit student-athletes under the NAIA brand. The cycle will begin in mid-summer, with a final decision in early October and membership beginning the following July.

In addition to those schools returning from the NCAA, others are seeking out the NAIA rather than NCAA for their first foray into collegiate athletics. These include Texas A&M-San Antonio and University of North Texas at Dallas, which have parent campuses in NCAA Division I.

A notable benefit for NCAA schools returning to the NAIA is that former members have immediate eligibility for NAIA postseason play.

Two institutions that recently returned – Oklahoma Panhandle State University and Thomas More (Ky.) – have both had immediate success in their first year returning to NAIA competition.

After returning to the NAIA in 2018, the Oklahoma Panhandle football team finished second in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 6-2 record.

Similarly, Thomas More qualified for the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship its first year as a returning NAIA member. The Saints qualified as a No. 5-seed in the national championship field and finished third in the Mid-South Conference..

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For the first time in football, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved a guideline for instant replay officials to complete video reviews in less than two minutes.

This will be an overall expectation for replay officials, and reviews that are exceptionally complicated or involve end-of-game issues should be completed as efficiently as possible without a stated time limit.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee supported this rule change to continue efforts to increase the pace of play.

Additionally, the panel approved a clock administration rule regarding instant replay.

If the game clock expires at the end of a half and replay determines that there was time remaining and the clock should start on the referee’s signal after review, there must be at least three seconds remaining, when the ball should have been declared dead, to restore time to the clock.

If less than three seconds remain on the game clock, the half is over.

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INDIANAPOLIS – On, Thursday, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships.

This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.

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