Trump to Host over 100 NCAA Champions at White House

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will host over 100 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) champions at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

Trump is set to join the athletes at 4:00 p.m. ET in the State Dining Room. A White House official notes that over 100 collegiate champions from various sports and universities will be on hand, and the president will deliver remarks to honor NCAA Collegiate National Champions Day.

The teams set to attend include Oklahoma State Men’s Golf, Texas A&M Women’s Volleyball Team, Wake Forest Men’s Tennis, Georgia Women’s Tennis, Youngstown State Women’s Bowling, West Virginia Mixed Rifle, and Florida State Women’s Soccer.

The event comes weeks after Trump took executive action aimed at college sports reform, including limiting the number of times athletes can transfer schools without penalty and their years of eligibility.

The order, Urgent National Action to Save College Sports, directs that students have a five-year eligibility window “with limited exceptions for military service, missionary service, and other periods of absence from participation that are in the public interest.”

Moreover, it allows one transfer per student-athlete in “the five-year period with immediate playing eligibility, and one additional such time if the student-athlete obtains a four-year degree.”

Former Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban lauded Trump’s executive order.

“President Trump’s executive order today is a critical step towards restoring stability in college sports. I thank the President for his leadership on this important issue, as ensuring the long term health of college athletics should be in the interest of all Americans,” Saban said.

In a separate order in March, Trump took action to protect the Army-Navy football game’s time slot, ensuring that no other games are played in the four-hour window.

“Nobody’s going to play football for four hours during that very special time of the year in December; it’s preserved forever for the Army–Navy game,” Trump said. “Now, if you don’t want to watch football, you don’t have to, but if you want to watch football, you’re only watching one game.”