NCAA Confirms Mo'ne Davis' World Series Commercial Won't Impact Eligibility

In the event 13-year-old Mo'ne Davis wants to pursue a collegiate athletics career, she won't be retroactively punished for appearing in a Chevrolet ad that ran during Game 1 of the 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals.

The NCAA acted quickly to confirm that Davis could receive compensation for her appearance without threatening her eligibility:

Emily James, a spokeswoman for the NCAA, also released a statement, per Darren Rovell of ESPN.com:

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The NCAA staff's decision was made within this process and based on a combination of considerations. This waiver narrowly extends the rules—which allow Davis to accept the payment and still be eligible in any other sport—to include baseball. The NCAA staff also considered the historically limited opportunities for women to participate in professional baseball. In addition, Davis is much younger than when the vast majority of the prospect rules apply. While this situation is unusual, the flexible approach utilized in this decision is not.

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Dan Wolken of USA Today felt that the NCAA's decision was about avoiding another possible public relations problem regarding its continued defense of amateurism:

Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com agreed with the move but wondered whether other exceptions could be made in the future if this will become the precedent:

Davis helped the Taney Dragons of Philadelphia reach the 2014 Little League World Series semifinals, rising to fame as the team's ace and one of its best offensive players. She was the 18th girl to feature in the LLWS—and the only one to win a game as a pitcher—and she earned a Sports Illustrated cover.

Her commercial, which was directed by Spike Lee, in part summarized her whirlwind summer.

Per Sports Illustrated's Scooby Axson, Davis said in August, "To be honest, I never thought I’d be famous for baseball. I want to play basketball, and I could also do both basketball and baseball—but I really want to play basketball."

In fact, during the LLWS, she talked to ESPN about her desire to join the UConn Huskies and be coached by the legendary Geno Auriemma.

Jessica Hill/Associated Press

"I want to go to UConn and be the point guard on the basketball team," she said, via John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant. "That's like my dream and then go into the WNBA. That's for Geno. Geno has to know."

Auriemma made a phone call to Davis while she was playing in the LLWS. Another school filed a complaint with the American Athletic Conference, and Auriemma was slapped with a secondary rules violation for congratulating her.