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Friday, October 30, 2009

Law - "NCAA clarifies its recruiting rules: Common practices in recruiting are no longer allowed"

Jeff Rabjohns reports today in the Indianapolis Star, in a story that begins:

Louisville is recruiting Pike High School basketball star Marquis Teague. It likely helped the Cardinals' cause that they hired a Pike assistant coach.

Under a set of guidelines approved Thursday, that's one of the practices the NCAA hopes to eliminate.

Intent on stopping college basketball coaches from buying influence over and access to recruits, either by hiring people close to the player or indirectly channeling money to the recruit, university presidents clarified what is not allowed under NCAA rules.

The NCAA Division I Board took a direct approach Thursday, addressing specific mechanisms used to channel money to recruits and recruits' handlers.

Among the actions now against the rules:

  • Paying someone associated with a recruit to work a camp or clinic;

  • Allowing someone associated with a recruit to volunteer at a camp or clinic;

  • Paying a consulting fee to someone associated with a recruit;

  • Paying excessive fees to "recruiting service" material of little value;

  • Donating to a nonprofit that runs a non-scholastic basketball program;

  • Calling a 1-900 service that connects to a recruit or anyone associated with a recruit.
Other proposals include prohibiting hiring someone associated with a recruit to a non-coaching position.

"The board gave unanimous support to reforms intended to eliminate the funneling of money to gain access to recruits," said Clemson president Jim Barker, chairman of the board. * * *

A number of ways exist for college coaches to funnel money to players, but three of the most common are: Hire a summer coach to speak at a camp or clinic and pay more than the usual fee; align yourself with an agent who will pay the player and his family, thus insulating the college coach from wrongdoing; and having boosters "donate" to summer programs, many of which have not-for-profit or nonprofit status.

Thursday's measures make two of those three against the rules.

"It re-regulates the recruiting environment in light of some of the changed behavior and conduct and provides a bright line with respect to the acts and conduct which are now prohibited," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said. "I'm not sure we've had the clarity we now have."

In addition to penalties for coaches, recruits who violate these rules can be banned from playing at that school.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 30, 2009 01:11 PM
Posted to General Law Related