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Earlier this month, the Power 5 conferences announced proposals for giving college athletes time away from their respective sports — a set of changes that would affect how many days of they get during the year, as well as restricting the hours in which they can practice or compete.

While the issue has been framed as one of the biggest NCAA issues coming up for a vote in January 2017, the agreed-upon changes seem to merit little more than a shrug from several athletes who spoke to The Tribune.

Some rule changes, such as a 7-day dead period following the end of the season, are already unofficially in practice. Teams such as men's basketball take two weeks off after the season. Others aren't necessarily poised to make a big change, such as up to 14 "additional" days off during the calendar year, which can be used when students are already spending time out of school.

The guideline that makes the most dramatic change — every team must have at least one day off, and travel days cannot count — has mixed support depending on the sport in mind.

Junior Kyle Kuzma, for example, is in favor: The men's basketball team travels extensively during the conference season, and early-morning flights don't always provide adequate recovery.

"The more time we have during the season is valuable," he said. "It takes a toll on our bodies, on our schoolwork. When you're always on the road, it's easy to get behind."

But for many sports, finding a day off is tricky when you can't count travel days. Senior Jessica Sams said the rule should parse distinctions for shorter trips versus longer ones across the country or internationally.

"That's something that it's hard to make a blanket rule," she said.

One of the most positively received changes is the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. period in which athletes will get an uninterrupted block of eight hours away from their sport. If a practice or related activity ends at 9:30 p.m., for example, the team can't have an athletically-related activity until at least 5:30 a.m. the next day.

While many sports have practices at regular times in the afternoon, Sams said it will be nice to know coaches can't "spring" crack-of-dawn sprints without planning it out first. Kuzma said it should allow a little more rest for athletes who end up working late.

But another factor may be undermining the NCAA's efforts to find solutions to the time crunch: the athletes themselves. In an effort to be competitive, swimmers want to get in the pool, baseball and softball players want to get in the batting cage, and football players want to be in the film room.

Hyper-competitive people will devote extra hours to get an edge, despite policies the NCAA drafts for their potential benefit.

"I just think that athletes that want to be successful don't need time-off policies," former baseball player Kody Davis said in a message to the Tribune. "Athletes should know what they are committing to in order to be competitive at the D1 level, and especially if they want to pursue a professional career."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

The Power 5 "Flex 21" plan

The autonomous five conferences have agreed in concept to the following changes to student-athlete time demands:

• Travel days can no longer count as a day off, and every sport must have at least one day a week free of athletic activities.

• Seven to 14 days off from the sport in addition to current policy of two weeks off during the offseason (will be tweaked by individual sport).

• Eight-hour block of free time nightly, which can be scheduled between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

• Seven-day dead period following the end of the season.