Jim Delany on time demands, media rights, transfers and (no) expansion

1:47 PM ET

ROSEMONT, Ill. — When the Big Ten’s annual spring meetings conclude, the media is welcomed upstairs to a conference room to speak with commissioner Jim Delany. It’s like being invited inside the walls of the castle to hear from the king.

As one of the most powerful men in college sports, Delany commands attention whenever he gives one of these state-of-the-Big-Ten-type addresses. Here a few highlights from his session on Wednesday:

• Last year at this time, the Big Ten was retreating from its freshman ineligibility idea. While that is dead, Delany said that reducing time demands on players remains a major priority for the league. After receiving thousands of responses from a leaguewide player survey on the issue, Delany said the league is prepared to put forward some proposals in January 2017, when the Power 5 schools meet to decide new legislation.

The specific proposals haven’t been formulated yet, but Delany said that agreed-upon concepts included dead periods in between the end of a season and the start of offseason training, an actual day off every week and some time off during each semester. How to implement and enforce those ideas — for instance, would players be barred from the training facility during mandated time off? — is up in the air.

“The devil’s in the details,” Delany said. “The students have to have a voice in …

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