In February the NCAA said it was going to make some changes in regards to official on-campus visits for college football recruiting. Well on Tuesday they did just that and there is more to come next year.

Division 1 Management Council Endorses New Rules For Recruiting Student Athletes

The NCAA issued a press release yesterday, a press release that pertains to all prospective college football recruits, their families, guardians and coaches regarding the structure of on-campus recruiting. This is something that has been discussed a lot within the recruiting community. This discussion turned into a plan of action, spearheaded by the NCAA Division 1 Management Council created by NCAA President Myles Brand back in February, following some allegations regarding the recruitment of Miami signee Willie Williams and the recruiting scandal that has rocked the University of Colorado.

The Management Council met on Monday and Tuesday in Baltimore, Md. and endorsed a series of recommendations adopted earlier this month by the NCAA Task Force on Recruiting. There will be six new measures that the NCAA Division 1 Board of Directors will consider as emergency legislation at its meeting next month on August 5th. They will also consider two additional alterations of the recruiting rules that could be introduced as early as the next legislative cycle of 2004-05.

The six measures include the following:

1) Member institutions must develop written policies for official recruiting visits to be approved by the president or chancellor. The policies would apply to prospective student-athletes, student hosts, coaches and other athletics administrators. Among other things, the policies must prohibit the use of alcohol, drugs, sex and gambling in recruiting. Colleges and universities must submit their official and unofficial visit policies to their conference offices by December 1, 2004. Institutions independent of conferences must submit their policies to the NCAA national office. The policies must be reviewed every four years by an outside entity. Under this measure, the NCAA reserves the right to investigate major violations of recruiting policy.

2) Institutions must use commercial air transportation at coach-class airfare to transport a prospect to and from an official visit. This rule is designed to minimize expectations created by the use of private or chartered airplanes in the recruitment process.

3) Institutions must use standard vehicles to transport prospects and those accompanying them on official visits. The vehicles must be the same as those used to transport any prospective student. This measure is intended to prohibit the use of specialized vehicles, such as those with special décor of modified with televisions, which could create a sense of entitlement for prospective student-athletes.

4) Prospects and their parents or legal guardians must be housed in standard lodging without special accessories and be offered standard meals comparable to those offered on campus. This proposal is intended to help institutions establish an environment during an official visit that resembles normal campus life for student-athletes.

5) Students who host prospects during official or unofficial visits must be current student-athletes or students designated to conduct campus visits or tours for all prospective students. This rule is intended to establish an environment similar to that experienced by all prospective students on official visits. Gender-specific groups could still be permitted if they are organized consistent with the overall campus visit program.

6) Institutions cannot develop personalized recruiting aides, such as personalized jerseys and personalized audio/video scoreboard presentations, or engage in any game-day simulations during a prospect’s official or unofficial visit. This measure would not prohibit prospective student-athletes from visiting the locker room before or after a game, or standing on the sidelines during pre-game activities before being seated in regular seats during the competition.

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By Jamie Newberg
National Recruiting Analyst