The counter applies to football above all other sports including basketball. With a multi-sport athlete in basketball and any sport other than football, the counter goes against basketball.
From NCAA regs :
15.5.8 Multi-Sport Participants.
15.5.8.1 Football. [FBS/FCS] In football, a counter who was recruited and/or offered financial aid to par-
ticipate in football and who participates (practices or competes) in football and one or more sports (including
basketball) shall be counted in football. A counter who was not recruited and/or offered financial aid to partici-
pate in football and who competes in football and one or more sports (including basketball) shall be counted in
football. (Revised: 1/10/95 effective 8/1/95,1/9/96 effective 8/1/96)
15.5.8.1.1 Initial Counter. [FBS/FCS] A counter who previously has not been counted in football shall
be considered an initial counter even though the student-athlete already has received countable financial aid
in another sport.
15.5.8.1.2 Championship Subdivision Football Exception. [FCS] A counter who practices or
competes in football at a football championship subdivision institution that elects to use the football coun-
ter and initial-counter exception set forth in Bylaw 15.5.5.2.1 and who practices or competes in another
sport and receives countable financial aid in another sport shall be counted in the institution’s financial aid
limitations in the other sport. (Adopted: 1/10/95, Revised: 12/15/06)
15.5.8.2 Basketball. A counter who practices or competes in basketball and one or more other sports (other
than football) shall be counted in basketball.
15.5.8.3 Ice Hockey. A counter who practices or competes in men’s ice hockey and one or more other sports
(other than football or basketball) shall be counted in men’s ice hockey. (Adopted: 1/16/93 effective 8/1/93)
15.5.8.4 Swimming and Diving/Water Polo, Men’s. A counter who practices or competes in both men’s
swimming and diving and men’s water polo at a member institution shall be counted in men’s swimming and
diving, unless he counts in football or basketball.
15.5.8.5 Volleyball, Women’s. A counter who practices or competes in women’s volleyball and one or more
other sports (other than basketball) shall be counted in women’s volleyball.
15.5.8.6 Two-Year Exception. If an individual has participated in a sport other than basketball, field hockey
or women’s volleyball for two years or more since the individual’s initial collegiate enrollment and would be in-
volved only in basketball, field hockey or women’s volleyball practice sessions, such a student would not become
a counter in those sports until the student actually competes as a member of that institution’s intercollegiate
team, at either the varsity or junior varsity level. (Revised: 1/10/95 effective 8/1/95, 1/9/96 effective 8/1/96)
15.5.8.7 Other Sports. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a counter who participates in two or
more sports shall be counted in one of the sports but shall not be counted in the others.
15.5.8.7.1 Requirement to Qualify as Multiple-Sport Athlete. To be considered a multiple-sport
athlete under this section, an individual must meet all of the following requirements:
(a) The individual shall report and participate fully in regularly organized practice with each squad;
(b) The individual shall participate where qualified in actual competition in each sport;
(c) The individual shall be a member of each squad for the entire playing and practice season; and
(d) If a recruited student-athlete, the individual shall have been earnestly recruited to participate in the
sport in which financial aid is counted (the institution recruiting the student-athlete shall have a rea-
sonable basis to believe that the student-athlete is capable of participating in the institution’s varsity
intercollegiate program in that sport, including documentation of a record of previous participation
in organized competition in the sport that supports the student-athlete’s potential to participate in
that sport in varsity intercollegiate competition.)
15.5.9 Changes in Participation. If a student-athlete changes sports during an academic year, the stu-
dent-athlete’s financial aid shall be counted in the maximum limitations for the first sport for the remainder of the
academic year. If the student-athlete continues to receive financial aid, the award shall be counted the next aca-
demic year against the maximum limitations in the second sport. A student-athlete shall be counted as an initial
counter in football during the year in which the student-athlete first becomes countable in that sport, regardless of
whether countable financial aid was received previously for another sport. (Revised: 4/3/02)
15.5.10 Squad list.
15.5.10.1 Eligibility Requirement. To be eligible to represent an institution in intercollegiate athletics
competition, a student-athlete shall be included on the institution’s squad-list form.
15.5.10.2 Squad-List Form. The member institution’s athletics director shall compile a list, on a form ap-
proved by the Management Council, of the squad members in each sport on the first day of competition and
shall indicate thereon the status of each member in the categories listed (see Bylaw 30.13).
