Fans were convinced that the NCAA singled out Rich Paul with its new agent criteria

There is no agent in the basketball world with more notoriety than Rich Paul. He’s LeBron James’ agent. He founded Klutch Sports Group. And he’s influenced the NBA with a client list that includes Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons, John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and Draymond Green.

But apparently, the NCAA wants no part of Rich Paul’s influence when it comes to college athletes.

As part of a series of new amateurism and NBA Draft rules that started this year, the NCAA allowed players who had declared for the draft to hire agents as pre-draft advisors and maintain their college eligibility. But for 2019 (and beyond), the NCAA is instituting minimum criteria for these agents — according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. Notably, a Bachelor’s degree was the first item listed.

Paul, despite being the game’s most powerful agent, doesn’t boast the typical educational background of most sports agents. He graduated from high school near Cleveland and befriended LeBron at an airport. He launched his career without the benefit of a Bachelor’s degree or a degree from a law school.

Because of that, fans were convinced that this educational requirement was a clear shot at Rich Paul.

The NCAA wasn’t exactly subtle here.